Return
by Besieged Infection
Summary: AU There was always something Demyx didn't understand in his photos, and little did he know the explanation was so complicated. A story about reality, and how something always seems to be missing.
1. to December of 2009

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard disclaimer applies.**

**Happy Dexion day, everyone!**

**...**

**Chapter One: December of 2009**

**...**

_The Exception Laws I_

_Hybrids are not permitted to take any position of power that could either directly or indirectly affect the lives of those around them. (IE: Teachers, politicians, lawyers, etc.)_

**...**

Hybrids.

They were everywhere. On the street, in their homes, at the mall- even enrolled in schools. It was a fact that the world had thus accepted. Not too quickly, one must know, but they were considered a minority all the same..

Zexion Kisaragi was one such Hybrid- the sub-specie referred to as 'Nekojin'. He looked just like your average human, though distinct traits set him apart. While his skin looked rather pale, crossing the border on gray, it was covered by a fine sheen of gray hairs that were completely invisible in poor lighting. His lavender hair fell over one slitted yellow eye, the other narrowed against any light that was present. His body, small, lithe, and just barely over five feet tall, was limber and graceful while managing to look completely and utterly awkward. The most noticeable points of his appearance, though, were the three-foot long lavender-gray tail sprouting delicately from his lower back to protrude out the bottom of his shirt, which forced him into a pair of low-riding jeans, and a set of pointed ears just a shade darker placed delicately atop his head. Zexion was fifteen years old, living the life of an everyday Hybrid in a public school. We join him in the very middle of physical education, where he is currently running the track surrounded by the other Hybrids in the class. Everyone wore the same gray shirts and black shorts, their breath leaving trails of mist in their wake as they all huddled together as much as they could without tripping over each other to keep warm in the cold December air. December fourteenth, after all, can only be so warm.

"Pick your feet up, slackers! The world waits for no one!" the teacher called to them, huddled in his warm wool coat and scarf, angered that the Hybrids were falling behind the regular class.

"Yeah, yeah- and your face doesn't have herpes. What else don't we know?" someone near Zexion drawled, startling chuckles from the Hybrids.

"Nice one, Demyx." someone laughed. A young girl, all blonde hair and bit blue eyes, was the source of this line. It was a reassurance, but short lived. Before long she assaulted by a slew of coughs. Hybrids were not built for running on two feet- some were just not built for running at all, in fact. Things like talking or laughing were too hard to do while running- too much of a strain on the lungs.

"You okay?" Demyx asked, his lungs not at all strained by the words. "Shake your head or something- you don't have to talk," he informed the girl, slowing to a walk with the Hybrid as she shook her head and fell to her knees on the track. The entire group slowed to a stop around them.

Demyx was about five and a half feet tall, taller than all the Hybrids by a good five inches. They stood around, worrying over the girl, all standing at five feet tall, on average. The blond boy, in his height, stood out from the crowd much like a sore thumb, so much taller than the rest.

The one who had fallen, Naminé, was a bird Hybrid. Unlike most of the other Hybrids at the school, though, the effect didn't affect her outward appearance. Instead, genetics had left her bones hollow, resulting in a serious case of anemia due to complications. Walking on its own was a challenge.

"You should sit down," Kairi, Naminé's older sister, advised, reaching forward to carefully take her sister's wrists in hands. A redhead opposed to Naminé's blonde, Kairi bore long talons on each of her fingers. These talons twitched once, twice, and then a third time before opening wide enough to admit the blonde's wrists. Tugging her sister up and toward the sidelines, Kairi motioned for everyone to continue with P.E. "You go ahead, guys. I'll take Naminé to the bench."

No one immediately left, but after a bit of prodding the teens slowly moved forward. Before long the entire group was running again. "Sorry." Demyx whispered just loud enough for a few to catch, head lowered in shame.

Zexion looked to the boy, then away. Demyx was nothing short of a puzzle to him. He understood things about Hybrids that were usually kept to their own. Understood things about them that was common knowledge. Even applied common sense to their feelings and thoughts. He was quite possibly the closest thing to a human that humans could create.

The Nekojin then looked then to the ground before of him, repressing the urge to sprint ahead of the others, chasing the air on all fours- how he was _truly _meant to run.

**…**

Hybrids and humans didn't share locker rooms- it was the law.

The Exception Laws II

Hybrids and Humans are not to share the same changing and/or living facilities at any point and time unless such living conditions are temporary, sans families containing a mix of Hybrids and Humans. These families must have recognition from the state, however, that they have legal marriage/adoption papers available upon warrant. If this is not so the Hybrids in the vicinity will be removed upon sight.

Instead there were four locker rooms split between gender and specie. Zexion idly wondered, pulling a shirt over his head, whether humans had as much trouble dressing as Hybrids. Unlike Hybrids they didn't have to worry about nudging their tails too hard, crushing their ears, or brushing thicker patches of fur the wrong way. They had no tails, ears were flat against their heads, and their skin was smooth and hairless for the most part. Zexion looked over to Sora, who carefully pulled his Inujin tail through a hole his mother had sewn into in his pants. Not all male hybrids with tails could handle that small amount of shame that came with shopping in the girl's section. Clothes were modified to allow for the mutations instead. Sora bristled when he pulled a section through wrong. With a small wince, Zexion pulled own jeans on, almost sighing when they were in place. To balance the shame was the incredible sensation of a fitting pair of pants. With a smirk he pulled a thin black shirt on (also from the women's section) that fell right into place over his bony physique.

The jeans lined his body nicely, though it gave the impression that he was rather feminine- an impression he secretly liked despite the teasing it warranted him. People often gave him cat-calls, no pun intended, in the hallways due to the way his pants accented his figure. He liked to think himself ahead of the crowd, and that eventually everyone would be wearing women's jeans- or at least tight ones. As Zexion grabbed his backpack and packed his things back into his PE locker, leaving through the door leading into the hell they call school hallways, he knew today was going to be just the same as all the others when the first of the jeers made its way around the crowd. First there was laughter, then came the stares as other Hybrids made their way from the locker room. Flattening his ears to his head, Zexion began to pull a hat over his hair- a dark green beanie that had become his constant companion in his previous years walking home from his Hybrid Only Middle School. As it was, public High School was no different than the outside world.

He had expected better from his fellow students in the higher institution. Had expected them to grow up and see the line between Hybrids and humans was nothing less than their inability to adjust. The rule in place not to mingle with Hybrids served no purpose but to breed apprehension. The majority began to speculate on what the specie might do should the restrictions be repealed. Not a single one of them realized that lines such as those were meant to be crossed. Their own history had proved this time and time again. Blacks, Whites, Asians, and Mexicans had shown the world that acceptance was achieved through pacifism, not skepticism.

"Hey, guys!" Demyx called in all his blue jean, black band tee, black jacket and red-scarfed glory, making his way over from the human locker room doors after the bell had rung. "Cafeteria's special is spaghetti- anyone up for today's failed attempt at foreign cuisine?" he joked, drawing disgusted looks from the crowd of Hybrids that had congregated outside their locker room.

Zexion himself gave a chuckle, and deep blue eyes were suddenly riveted on him. A fearful shiver ran up his spine, but Zexion ignored it.

…

"Hey Zexion- could you open this for me?" Naminé asked, holding a bag of potato chips out to the boy. He reached over, bringing a claw from its hidden slip of skin inside his finger and dragging it across the top of the package. It slid open easily under the sharp edge. "Thanks," Naminé chirped with appreciation, reaching in to pull a barbecue potato chip from the bag. She appeared to have recovered from her slip-up in PE.

"No problem," Zexion replied halfheartedly, grimacing down at the spaghetti piled on his plate.

Naminé laughed. "It could be worse."

"Unless they cross chicken surprise with spinach pizza Fridays I don't think they-" Zexion motioned to the lunch ladies standing behind their counters, handing out the toxic waste, "-can out-do _this,_" he finished, pointing to the mushy concoction they dared call 'spaghetti'. Picking up his fork he looked to the miserable lump of in-edibility the school called 'food' before dropping it once again, courage lost. He was a teenager, and as such great quantities of bravery for something he was sure would make him sick was beyond him.

"They could decide to mate you with Xemnas." Naminé announced, motioning to said human across the room.

Zexion looked to the girl, willing away a twitch. "I'll take the spaghetti, thank you."

There was a flash of light. "I doubt Zexion even swings that way, Naminé. The chances are nine to one." Demyx announced, edging into the conversation as he placed his camera back in his pocket.

The girl chuckled. "Gender really isn't important to us, Demyx. There is no _swing this way_ or _swing that way_. There's only you-" she pointed to Demyx with a potato chip, "-and your mate." She finished the statement grandly taking a very noisy bite of the snack while the Nekojin looked on in disgust.

"How can you eat that?" he managed around his involuntary gagging, tail bristling slightly as his ears flattened even further to his skull beneath his beanie.

The blonde girl smirked. "It's a matter of taste. Birds, unlike cats, do not have a sharp sense of taste. You forget."

"I wish your mate luck- they'll be stuck with junk food forever." This startled a laugh from the girl.

Demyx stared at the two, confusion evident on his face. "Forever? Am I missing something here?"

This prompted chuckled from the two before Naminé graced him with an answer. "Hybrids mate for life- it's just something in out genetic makeup. Don't you pay attention in health?"

Conveniently for Demyx, they were interrupted. "Hey guys- my little sister's having a birthday party this weekend. Anyone want to come?" someone announced loudly from the head of the table. All eyes turned to the Inujin, Sora. "She's turning four, so it's kind of a big thing."

"I'm there!" Demyx announced before anyone could answer. Almost immediately after, in an attempt to preserve some pride in the Hybrid social system, many others soon spoke up in affirmatives. Cacophonies of "yeah, totally", "sounds awesome" and "wouldn't miss it" piled on top of each other as the rest of the table answered their affirmations before a single line of "I can't" broke through the their exclamations. Eyes turned to Zexion, confusion in their gazes.

"Why not?" Sora inquired. "Didn't you say you could make it last week?"

"I know- it's just that... well..." Zexion trailed off, embarrassed. "I get leave off of school starting tomorrow and... you know..."

There was a short period of confusion before something clicked and nearly every Hybrid at the table averted their eyes, faces aflame. "O-oh..." Sora managed. "G-good luck with that."

"Umm... did I miss something here?" Demyx asked, looking from face to face until his eyes landed on Zexion. "Good luck with what?"

"It's a Hybrid thing. Don't worry about it," Zexion mused, hurriedly snatching his tray from the table, emptying it in the trash, leaving it on the tray holders and leaving the lunch room. He quickly decided that it was a great time to return his library books.

"So it doesn't concern me- right." Demyx mused, sitting back down at the table when he noticed he was no longer sitting.

"I hope he gets through it alright," Kairi announced to her sister beside her. "Remember how rough yours was?"

The blond boy, intrigued, turned to her. "Rough? What do you mean?" he asked, only to be ignored by the redhead. Heaving a sigh, Demyx flopped deep into a slouch, leaning against the table. "Jeez- way to leave me out of the loop." Just what was so important that everyone knew about it? Well, all the Hybrids, at least.

"We're not leaving you out of the _loop_, per say," Sora informed him softly, breaking Demyx's train of thought. As the blond had been sulking the Inujin had crept up behind him, and it was more than enough to make the taller boy jump. "It's just something we have to go through every once in a while- it puts us all on edge. Some more than others."

Demyx sighed, standing from his seat with a word of thanks to Sora, grabbing his tray and made his way across the cafeteria to put it away.

…

The library was quiet; filled to the brim with books, educational videos, and computers. The lights were off and the air tasted of dust and old books- and it was all his for the day. As today was the librarian's day off, and Zexion being the only other person with a key, the library was closed today for anyone other than himself. He took the space in for a minute, walking down the aisle. A small click brought him back to reality as he turned around to see... nothing. "I could have sworn..." he whispered. He could have sworn he heard someone walking. With a sigh he concluded it had been his imagination.

Shelves upon shelves of books lined the walls, nearly ten feet tall as their tops just grazed the ceiling. With a slightly-silly grin he placed the books he had checked out in the return slot before he gave into temptation, walking over to lock the door before anyone found him. His feet carried him through the shelves of books, his fingers trailing lazily from cover to cover. Books he had read a million times over. "The Messenger", "The Blue Girl", "Storm Thief"... books that had shaped the way he thought from a young age. Books that had filled him with something akin to hope for the people around him. Books that made him think sometimes, if only briefly, that people could change.

Climbing up one of the ladders he found himself near the top of a middle shelf, fingers tracing the spines of books until he found the one that grasped his attention. Its leather spine revealed just how old it was, crackling slightly with age as he pulled it from the shelf. The book was unmarked- no title apparent on the cover, though he would be able to tell once he opened it to the title page.

"Why can't you go?" a voice asked, startling the Nekojin from his observation. In a moment of sheer distress Zexion's foot slipped from the trick step on the ladder, leaving him to clutch at the handrail with one hand as the trick step spun idly on its nail. He turned to Demyx, confused. A flash of light went off and his confusion turned to anger as Demyx placed the camera back in his pocket.

"How'd you get in? I locked the door."

"I slipped in before you could."

Zexion paused for a second. "Couldn't you wait to scare me _after_ I was down?"

"You're a cat." He mused.

"And that has anything to do with the situation... how?" Zexion asked.

Demyx chuckled, scuffing his shoes against the floor. "I trusted you not to fall... that's about it."

"Right."

"Why can't you go?" Demyx asked again, looking up to where the other boy was placing the book in his tail in order to climb down. "To the party, I mean."

"It's something a lot of Hybrids go through- that's all I'm going to tell you." Zexion responded, carefully making his way down the ladder.

"Will you be starting your Heat or something?" Demyx asked, all seriousness.

Zexion's foot missed a step, though he once again caught himself before he faced Demyx again. "If you knew then why did you ask?" This was met with silence.

"Seriously?" Demyx managed after Zexion had finally reached the bottom, opened the book, and angrily began to make his way back up the ladder, taking extra care to make sure he avoided the trick step.

Zexion placed the book on the shelf, disappointed that after all that trouble it had turned out to be a dictionary. He growled at the boy, making his way down the ladder. "Yes, and if you could _leave me alone_ about it then-" This sentence was cut short, though, drawing Demyx's embarrassed eyes back to the boy.

"What's wrong?" he asked, walking up to the shelf. Zexion didn't speak, choosing instead to clutch at the handrail until his knuckled turned white. His movements were slow and angular, taking half thought out steps down the ladder. "You okay?"

It was a sudden sensation, and nearly overwhelmed him in one go. His blood seemed to boil in an instant, and his body was hot and so, so _itchy_. Biting down on his lip, sharp incisors slicing clean through the soft skin, he finally managed a choked, "Fine," just as he took another step, only to find the step give under his weight and spin around slowly- the step that didn't work.

Demyx lunged forward, catching the small Nekojin against his chest, distrusting his arms with the weight of another person. Should he take him to the nurse? No- the nurse didn't like Hybrids. The office? Should he get the other Hybrids and ask them? What was going _on_? Zexion was trembling and hot in his arms- was this that 'Heat' that the health teachers always talked about? The one everyone was supposed to avoid because it was some sort of... something or other?

Demyx panicked, laying the boy against of of the bookshelves. Mr. Leonheart, the health teacher, had _said_ something about what to do when they went into Heat. What was it? He set his backpack on the floor, rummaging through the pockets before he found his stash of cue-cards, squinting at them in the dim light. "Let's see... Not this one. Not CPR, either," he narrated, flipping through the cue cards, occasionally throwing glances at the other boy, who seemed to be hyperventilating. "God; if you exist- which I highly doubt you do- you chose the _wrong person_ to test, or whatever this is," the boy whined, scanning each card twice in hope that they could help. When he found one that might help, he groaned. "Take immediately to the nearest nurse's station," he read sarcastically.

He turned to the shorter boy, placing his cards on the ground as he reached for the Nekojin. Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder he attempted to wake the boy from his groggy state. He had been ready for the boy to try to swat his hand away- what he _wasn't_ ready for was for the boy to lean forward, thread his hands into his hair, and pull him into a sloppy kiss.

I get it- wrong card, Demyx though, eyes widening in surprise before he pushed the Nekojin away. Keeping a hand on the boy's chest to keep him as far away as possible he surfed through the cards with one hand, the blonde ignored the sweet smell that was slowly filling the room, replacing the musty smell of old books. "_That_ was for _ringworm_..." he groaned. The card went on to inform him that physical contact with the skin was to be avoided. "No wonder it didn't work. Let's see..." he mumbled, flipping through the cards. Demyx would have usually asked an adult for help, but it seemed the librarian was out today- just his luck. Card after card he looked over, hoping for some ray of hope to get him out of the situation. Minutes passed, and he found himself growing rather... distracted. Occasionally he found his eyes drawn to Zexion, whose eyes were half-lidded, staring into his with something that was so obviously lust. The sweet smell grew stronger, to the point of overpowered, and on one particular glance it took the opportunity to all but _pierce_ him, leaving his brain in an opaque pink fog. His elbow went slack just slightly from the hopeless feeling that maybe there _was_ nothing he could do, and the smaller boy used the chance to push him against the opposite bookshelf, hands cradling his face as his lips placed a hard kiss against his.

Pain shot through Demyx's head, prompting him to think- a _guy_ was kissing him- but that sweet smelling fog kept him from rational thought. The only thing he _could_ do was to tilt his head to the side for better access, grasping at the Nekojin's shoulders as his mouth was forced open and ravaged. Within seconds Demyx found himself on his back, Zexion looming over him, tugging away his scarf, then his jacket. From this position Demyx was fully able to appreciate the color of the Hybrid's eyes- mismatched yellow and purple. He wondered idly if this was a Hybrid thing, or if a human could inherit as well. The smaller boy shed his jacket, and soon after removed the blond's shirt. Without hesitation the lavender haired boy bent forward, mouth landing on the blonde's neck; laving on the skin where neck met shoulder. In a bold move, he sank his teeth into the skin, shocking some of the sweet pink fog from Demyx's mind enough for the boy to push him off. A sick _crack _echoed through the room, and the blond winced. Looking about for the source, his eyes settled on the other boy. When the fog finally fled his brain he grimaced. Much to his horror, he'd thrown Zexion in an adrenaline-laced fog. The Nekojin had collided head on with the ladder and lay limp at the base of the bookshelf.

First thing was first- put on his shed clothes. That was done without much ceremony, and he lovingly placed his cue-cards back in his backpack before looking to his charge. Zexion sat passed out against the ladder, his body limp, which scared Demyx a little even though he was incredibly glad to be rid of the smell the smaller boy had put off. In a last minute decision Demyx pulled the boy over his shoulder, searching his pockets for the library key and something with his address on it.

All the while, he attempted desperately to ignore the burning sensations that plagued the places he had been kissed, licked, and bitten by the smaller boy.

**...**

December twenty-first had fast approached and arrived. Zexion finally returned to school on this day, an entire seven days after the incident. Not that Demyx was counting, or anything. The fact was that the boy was gone an entire week, which is a long enough time to make your friends worry- if they care, anyways. Demyx counted among those friends, obviously, and was angered when upon the Nekojin's return he refused to so much as _look_ at him. Not that he minded, or anything like that. In fact Demyx seemed dead set of _avoiding_ the boy despite his aforementioned worry. With the way his thoughts were working these days he didn't think he could last very long in the presence of the smaller teen. Demyx figured that if he saw Zexion in the flesh he would remember things he didn't want to remember, though he soon found out that not seeing the boy was just as bad.

Every time he saw anything yellow or purple he found himself remembering how small hands buried themselves in his hair, holding his face close as a warm, small mouth attacked his. How the boy's lips had trailed down his neck, leaving the skin with a tingling after burn that wouldn't disappear for days. How the entire experience had made his toes curl in apprehension and want. Sometimes banishing the thoughts from his head was beyond him, and found himself trying to physically shake the memory from his head.

Picking up on the pattern, Kairi and Naminé managed to track Zexion down to his new lunchtime haunt, the music room. "What's going on with you two?" the redhead demanded, her younger sister cowering behind her.

"We should leave him alone..." Naminé suggested, edging toward the exit.

"Well?" the redhead asked again, slamming one taloned hand down on the table next to Zexion's sandwich. A boy had been playing the piano about five minutes earlier, and had played rather beautifully, but he left when Kairi had come in. Must have sensed a fight. Pity. The boy was human and seemed not to mind him, just starting to cross that first line.

Zexion shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talk-"

"Bullshit," Kairi interrupted, drawing shocked eyes to her angered form. "Something happened between you and Demyx last week, and I'd rather not have Naminé freak out about it over winter break." She paused to heave a sigh, visibly attempting to calm herself. "I'd have her all to myself for an entire _week_ but she's no fun when she's worried." The redhead turned back to face the Nekojin, talons just starting to dig into the desk. "Let me guess- your heat started early and you jumped him?"

There was a small silence before Zexion turned away, blush dusting his features. "Sorta."

Naminé's eyes widened as Kairi laughed. "No shit!" the redhead exclaimed.

"Language, Kairi!" Naminé scolded her.

"Sorry, Naminé," Kairi apologized, looking back to her sister before returning her gaze, once again, to the boy she was interrogating. "So who topped?"

"_What_?" Zexion squeaked, gaze shooting from his sandwich to Kairi's face.

"You know what I mean. Who topped? Did you push him down or did he eventually go Dom from all the pheromones?" Kairi inquired earnestly.

Zexion looked to the side. "How can you- nobody topped. We didn't even _get_ very far until he... snapped out of it, I guess."

"You can't snap out of Nekojin pheromones, Zexion. They're just too strong for anyone to resist, unless looking at them is literally painful," Kairi tutted, wagging a talon before his face with smugness. "Besides- he positively _reeked_ of male Nekojin for days. No one said anything about it- I mean, come _on_. No one really wants to make Demyx feel uncomfortable since this whole 'friendship' thing is on pretty thin ice to begin with. Him being human and all."

"Is _that_ why no one said anything?" Naminé spoke up, tugging on her sister's shirt. "In PE, I mean."

"No, stupid," Kairi scoffed, rolling her eyes. "We didn't say anything then because we couldn't. Running, remember?"

"I think he meant during warm-ups," Naminé informed her quietly.

"Really?" She rolled this over in her head for a second before turning to the boy. "In that case, do you want all the humans to lump him is with us or something?" Kairi inquired sharply.

"What are you talking about?" Zexion asked, looking from one girl to the other.

Kairi smirked. "You were too busy ignoring him to realize, but he has this really red mark on his neck- where his neck meets his shoulder, about. You know- where someone would bite during _sex_." Naminé blushed at this, but the redhead continued. "You marked him, Zexion. You marked him really good." With this she took a seat at the desk opposite Zexion. "So give me the details- what was it like, doing a human?"

"We didn't have sex," Zexion growled, waking Kairi from what appeared to be her dream moment.

Said Torijin did a double take. "Wait- what?"

"We didn't have sex," he repeated, hands clenching the sides of his seat. "Nobody topped, there are no details- there's nothing else to say."

"Then what happened?" Naminé asked, sitting on the desk Kairi was seated at.

Zexion sighed. "We were in the library. I was only in there to put my books in the return box before they went overdue during me leave from school." The girls nodded along, knowing perfectly well that Zexion was that kind of person. "I think he sneaked in when I wasn't looking, cause I heard something. I just brushed it off, though, and locked the door so I could look at a few of the shelves- don't tell the librarians, though. If they knew they'd _kill_ me." True- the librarians were rather protective of the books. Kairi and Naminé nodded at this, too. "I saw a new book on the shelf, so I went to check it out. That's when _Demyx_ showed up and freaked me out. I almost fell off the ladder!" The girls laughed at this. "It isn't funny," Zexion growled.

Naminé looked apologetically at him before responding. "You're right- it's not." After this she made a show of looking him straight in the eye, obviously awaiting the rest of the story. When nothing was said she prompted, "Well, go on."

Zexion sighed. He knew there was no way to avoid it. "Well, I climbed the ladder and tried to give him a piece of my mind- then I had to put the book back when I realized it was a dictionary." Kairi and Naminé had the heart not to laugh at this. "He asked me why I couldn't go to the party, I implied he lay off the subject, and he asked if I was going through my heat."

"Rude, much?" Kairi mused, raising her eyebrow in amusement.

"Very. I almost lobbed the dictionary at him. Instead I did the polite thing and put it away. Then, as I started down it... well... yeah."

"Your Heat started," Kairi mused, looking from Naminé and back to Zexion.

Zexion nodded. "Yeah. I tried to control it, but coming down the ladder I stepped on the trick step and-"

"I hate that thing." Kairi interrupted with vigor, earning a disapproving glare. "Sorry."

"Anyway, I tried to get at him and... he sort of knocked me out," Zexion narrated. "The end."

"You can't 'sort of' knock someone out, Zexion," Kairi mused, tugging at her shirt. This earned her another disapproving look.

"She's right, you know," Naminé noted, earning a scathing look in response. She withered, then rose up under the glare. "Tell us what _really_ happened."

"Yeah- how'd he knock you out? Every detail, please," the redhead pleaded, hungry for every dirty detail.

Zexion sighed again. "Well, I pushed him against a shelf, kissed him," the girls nodded eagerly, not caring that the boy had managed to blush four shades of red, "sucked on his neck a little, bit down and... he sorta woke up. Pushed me back pretty hard, and..." A hand went up to massage the back of his head, which ached something horrible, even after several days. "I think I hit my head on the ladder."

The girls visibly deflated, Kairi more so than her sister. "You kidding? That _sucks_," the older sister noted, crossing her arms. "I wonder why he pushed you away, though. I mean, it _was_ your first heat so even a shit load of pain shouldn't reach through that cloud of pheromones." Naminé winced at her sister's language. "So he either thought you were incredibly hideous or it's just another stupid human thing- like that thing he was talking about the other day. Sexual preference or something. Humans seem to make a huge deal out of that. Then again, when faced with a Nekojin..." She thought for a second, ignoring how both her companions looked at her with scathing looks. "So he must not find you the least bit attractive. Sorry about that, Zexion. It isn't every day a Nekojin seduces someone, but the day they don't succeed is a sad day indeed."

"I didn't _seduce_ him!" Zexion defended himself.

Kairi scoffed. "Why not? That's what you're supposed to do."

"Wait- it worked until he bit him, right?" Naminé inquired.

**...**

**End notes: Revisions made December 10th, 2011.**

**Chapter two preview below.**

**...**

_Despite the fact that Demyx was due for something good to happen in his life the boy found himself, none-the-less, staring in the mirror the morning of January second, a Saturday, cursing the skin on his neck. Not only had the wound inflicted by the Nekojin taken a good two weeks to heal, but it had also decided to leave a very nasty scar in its wake. Said scar was currently mocking Demyx in all its shiny pink glory._

**...**

With love,

Besieged Infection


	2. to January of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard disclaimer applies.**

**Happy reading!**

...

Chapter Two: January 2010

...

_**The Exception Laws II**_

_**Hybrids and Humans are not to share the same changing and/or living facilities at any point and time unless such living conditions are temporary, sans families containing a mix of Hybrids and Humans. These families must have recognition from the state, however, that they have legal marriage/adoption papers available upon warrant. If this is not so the Hybrids in the vicinity will be removed upon sight.**_

...

January first.

Dodging past the fichus he _swore_ was evil, Demyx groaned. The clock in the hallway chimed one AM, stopping him in his tracks. He had missed midnight, his chance to make a new years wish. It was his year to ferry buckets of water back and forth between the front yard and the garden this year, as the spicket in the garden didn't work and Larxene's sparklers had this unusual attribute of 'spontaneous combustion', so that's what he had been doing _all night_. From the back yard through the sliding kitchen door, around the dining room table and through the living room to go out the front door, only to repeat the same obstacle course backwards with a full bucket of water. The largest obstacle of all, however, appeared to be the fichus in the foyer, which he would have to avoid through a great deal of skill despite how it was still small. He _could_ just go around the house, but everything was on one floor, like a traditional Japanese house.

With a sigh, Demyx, with a bucket full of water, went into the living room for a bout of well-deserved rest. Just as he set the bucket down by the fichus, however, five hollow knocks rang in his ears. He twisted around sharply. Was it the neighbor complaining about Larxene's sparklers? The cherry bombs? No one _else_ in their right mind would willingly come over to their house with _fireworks_ were in use. No one but...

A chill ran up Demyx's spine, leaving him praying for mercy. It wasn't _him_, was it? Of course, knowing his luck, it probably was. Three more dull knocks sounded at the front door, along with a "Hello?" Another chill shook Demyx's spine. It _was_ him. He made for the door, only for his foot to be caught in the bucket handle. Down he went, flailing, onto the fichus, which fell over with a dull _smack_. Dirt, water and Demyx spilled everywhere, leaving the foyer carpet soaked with mud. Demyx looked down at the mess, cursing his luck. He was probably going to be grounded for this.

With a sigh, he stood up and opened the door. There he was greeted with a sight that did _not_ please him.

A man smirked as the door opened. "I'm not causing any trouble, am I?"

"No more than usual." Demyx growled, eye twitching in annoyance. "What do you want Marluxia?" He asked, flipping the switch for the porch light, illuminating Marluxia's features.

'Marluxia' was a twenty year old man around five' eleven" with dull brown eyes and shockingly pink hair, though this was only at first glance. Upon close inspection his eyes were a sharp brown ringed with green, his hair leaflets of skin spiking out a foot in length or more each, both marking him as a hybrid. The height had thrown Demyx off for a while until he had discovered that the man wasn't just a mix of hybrids but a mix of specie. Being a quarter human can do wonders for your height, as Marluxia had said. The pink-'haired' man smirked, scratching idly behind one ear.

"Is Larxene home?" He asked, looking into the living room.

Demyx internally growled. Something _about_ this guy always seemed to piss him off. "Isn't she always?"

Marluxia laughed. "Whatever. Where is she?"

"What do I get out of telling you?" Was the cutting reply.

"Still don't like me?" Marluxia chuckled. "Okay. What do you need help with?"  
Demyx grabbed the bucket from the floor before righting the fichus plant. "Help me clean this up." Leaving Marluxia in the foyer, the boy walked to the towel-closet, taking on two of his mother's brown towels- they wouldn't show a mud stain. He idly noted that Larxene would have to do a load of towels, soon. Her lime-green pile was made up of two towels, now, while everyone else had about six or seven. Moving away from the closet, Demyx knew that his mother would notice the missing towels. He then returned the brown towels to the closet and brought out the cleaning towels, white towels with a story for every stain, and made his way into the living room.

Demyx threw a towel directly in Marluxia's face, now knowing if he was angry or jealous that the man caught it without looking up. They mopped up the mess in silence, Demyx launching glares at the older man every so often. They then bent over the carpet, on hands and knees, soaking up the mess of soil and water in stained white towels. Eventually, though, the silence was broken.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Marluxia asked, pressing his towel into a particularly bad stain. Demyx looked up from his own, staring pointedly at Marluxia as if asking '_what?'_ They stood up, finishing the last of the stains. "Why do you have me so much?" Marluxia repeated.

Demyx held the bucket out to Marluxia. "Fill this with the hose in the front yard and bring it to the back. You'll find Larxene there."

Marluxia took the bucket with a glare. "Tell me."

Demyx sniffed. "I don't trust you." He deadpanned. "You have something up your sleeve and I don't want any part of it."

Marluxia chuckled. "Something up my _sleeve_, huh?" He brushed a hand through his 'hair'. "I guess you could say that."

"And you're trying to bring Larxene with you." Marluxia looked up at this. "I'm telling you right now. Leave. Her. _Out of it_."

The man smirked. "Who are _you _to tell _me_ what to do?"

"Her older brother."

"Only by human standards, Demyx." Marluxia frowned. "And in case you didn't notice, Hybrids don't function according to _human_ standards."

When Marluxia left, Demyx idly thought back to the people in his class- how they acted, how they lived- and knew that Marluxia was right. Hybrids _didn't _function according to human standards. He knew that- it was important, but not important enough. It wasn't important enough to make up for the fact that what he _didn't _know was crucial- that something big was in the making. Bigger than him; bigger than Larxene; bigger than _whatever_ it was going on between him and Zexion. Marluxia knew, though, and he was going to do everything he could within his power to make that thing in the making a reality, even if it would turn his world, everyone's world, up-side down.

Nothing would stop him.

...

Despite the fact that Demyx was due for something _good_ to happen in his life the boy found himself, none-the-less, staring in the mirror the morning of January second, a Saturday, cursing the skin on his neck. Not only had the wound inflicted by the Nekojin taken a good two weeks to heal, but it had also decided to leave a very nasty _scar_ in its wake. Said scar was currently mocking Demyx in all its shiny pink glory.

"Nice scar- looks pretty new." His little sister announced, walking into the bathroom with a smirk. At twelve years old she came up to his chest, though he couldn't tell if that was short or tall for her age. He did know, however, that she was a sadist who enjoyed making people squirm. Flouncing up to the sink she took hold of a bottle of hair gel, using it to fashion her bangs into two antennae. "And all this time I thought you were a eunuch."

"Shut it, Larxene." Demyx scolded, reaching for his toothbrush.

Larxene stuck her tongue out at him, revealing a thin forked appendage that was not meant to be in a human mouth. Truth be told, Larxene was adopted. When it was revealed that she was a Hybrid his parents had announced that they didn't care and made sure she felt accepted. They were friends, but just barely. "How's your little kitty lover?" She inquired, reaching for her own toothbrush.

The older boy spat, turning to his sister. "He is _not_ my lover."

"Right, so he's just your kitty. I get it."

"He is _not_ my _kitty_, either."

"Scent says otherwise- you _reek_ of male Nekojin."

"If you'd _listen_ you'd know that Zexion was in heat and-"

"It was _Zexion_?" Larxene cut him off, looking at him with incredulousness. "Zexion as in my _best friend since Elementary school_ Zexion? He went through his heat? How has he been? You didn't insult him, did you?"

"Wait- _what_?" Demyx asked from his place against the wall. During the interrogation the girl had nearly pinned him against the door, all but cornering him. "First thing's first. You _know_ Zexion?"

"Zexion Kisaragi, right? A Nekojin with grey ears and a skinny-ass tail?" She asked, almost unsure of herself.

"Yeah- that's the one."

"He and I had an art class together back in Elementary school. You think I got my finger paintings to look so gruesome on my own?"

There was a small silence before Demyx spoke. "You knew him in Kindergarten?"

"He was in second grade at the time, so we didn't really talk all the much. Of course, everyone else avoided me since... you know. Snakes aren't exactly widely liked."

"That and you're a sadist."

"You know it, you fear it." True. Definitely true.

"What do you mean by 'insult' him?"

She laughed. "You're a moron, you know?"

"Yes, I know this. Now what did you mean by 'insult' him?"

"You really know nothing about Hybrids, don't you?" This earned a nod from the boy. "You need some pride, you know that?" She sighed. "Like pushing him away without an explanation or something. Among Hybrids it's really serious to push someone away during their Heat without an explanation. In our eyes it's just... wrong, you know?" Demyx squeaked, drawing her eyes to him. "You pushed him away, didn't you?" He nodded. "You _did_ explain why you pushed him away, right?" This was met with silence. "Demyx, you idiot!" She yelled, grabbing a hand towel and proceeding to beat him with it.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know, okay?" Demyx said, covering his face with his right hand as his left searched blindly for the doorframe.

"He's going to think he's hideous- or worse! Why didn't you _explain_?"

"What do you mean he'll think he's hideous?"

"That's what we _all_ think when we're rejected!"

This brought a halt to any and all violence taking place in the small bathroom. "Seriously?"

"Out, kids! I need to shit." Their father said, dragging the two from the room and closing the door.

Larxene laughed. "That man needs some _tact_."

"So true." Demyx said, looking to the girl. Their eyes locked and the two smiled, high-fiving each other before proceeding to the basement to turn off the electricity in the bathroom.

...

"Hey, Larxene?" Demyx asked, edging his sister's bedroom door open.

"What is it, human?" The girl asked, not looking up from the magazine she was perusing.

Seeing the page she was on, Demyx laughed. "National Geographic again? Another snake special?"

"Cobras of East Asia. What do you want?"

"You knew Zexion in Elementary school, right?" He asked, sitting at the edge of the girl's bed.

She laughed, teeth peeling back to reveal pointed fore-teeth nearly two inches long. "Knew him? Looked up to him, more like."

"What do you mean?"

The girl turned to him. "Does Zexion seem young to you?"

"You kidding? I find it hard to believe he's sixteen- he acts like he's fifty."

The girl smirked. "He's fifteen."

"What?" This threw Demyx for a loop.

"He skipped sixth grade, the lucky bastard. He has his birthday next April- which, if I'm not mistaken, is when the school year begins." Larxene turned back to her magazine, reading over a line about how poison can be spat from one of the snakes into an enemy's eyes. "Surprised?" She asked, secretly envying the poisonous creature.

The older boy stared at her, thinking things over. "You sure about all this?"

"Not really- his birthday might actually be in May." She mused, not turning from her magazine. "I'm pretty sure it's April eighteenth, though."

"You really knew him, didn't you?"

There was a small silence before he was answered. "'_The Exception Laws XII. Hybrids and humans are not to attend the same primary, elementary, or junior high schools__.' _You know this, so it shouldn't be that hard to believe that we knew each other." She laughed. "He taught me how to draw gore like a master, which leads to today." She said, looking up at the drawings that adorned the walls. Each and every one of the pictures involved either a spleen or a large amount of intestines in some way... which really freaked Demyx out. "He really liked the old gore movies, even as a kid. Who do you think taught me about the miracle that is R rated movies? Barney?"

Demyx laughed. "I remember when you took a steak knife to the Barney mom gave you, then complained that the intestines were missing. The _intestines_, Larxene. Seriously... you always were a little eccentric."

She smiled. "All thanks to Zexion! Although..." She paused, looking up from her magazine. "When he was in fourth grade he got tired of gore and stuff- moved onto books and stopped talking to people."

This drew a smile from the older boy. "Now _that_ sounds like the Zexion _I_ know."

She smiled. "Now get out- I'm gonna call Marluxia." Demyx scowled. "Yeah, yeah. I know you don't like him."

"It's not that I don't _like_ him. He's just a little too... eccentric, to stomach right away."

His sister smirked, looking back to her magazine. "I hope you know that mark on your neck won't be hidden by a measly scarf to Hybrids. Mom and Dad may be fooled, but it's just plain obvious to us. Best to just display it for the world to see- you can't wear that thing forever."

"Is this a trap?"

Larxene laughed. "The sooner you display the mark proudly the sooner everyone will know you have the hots for Zexion."

Demyx scoffed. "I do _not_ have the hots for _Zexion_. I don't even swing that way." He said, standing and exiting the room. A few seconds passed before he stuck his head through the doorway. "You might want to get some sleep before Dad starts to snore." He paused. "And I do _not_ have the hots for Zexion." And with that he left.

Larxene chuckled. "Not yet, my dear brother. Not yet..."

...

January eleventh, the first day back at school after winter break, dawned as cold and rainy as it could; complete with thunder, lightning, and the occasional power-outage. None-the-less, school was not cancelled as their power supply was underground- or so they proudly announced over the intercom five minutes into the school day. No one really believed them, but who really cares? It just meant that physical education would be served _inside_ instead of out, in which everyone was grateful.

Demyx was rather jumpy that day, equally from the facts that one, today was the day he would apologize to Zexion and two, he was scared to _death_ of thunder. It wasn't the lightning that scared him, oh no. It was the _thunder_ in its ability to scare the shit out of him. He could deal with the flashes of light crashing down to earth frying everything in their wake with the heat of the surface of the sun, oh yes. Just keep away from hills and make sure you have rubber insoles and you are _good_. Peals of thunder that echoed around the room, however, were _not_ his forte. Yes- unlike most, Demyx was scared of the _sound_. The _thunder_. Don't ask why- he just was. Were he at home he would have simply placed some headphones on and burst the music up to full blast. However, that was not an option at _school_. Thus he was jumpy. All day.

Suffering through the first few hours of history, English, and science were _not_ the worst of it, either. Just as he filed into the locker room to dress down the peals of thunder doubled their effort. With all his jumping he could hardly managed to get out the door before the class bell rang and they took roll. Through all the sudden bursts of crap there was a ray of hope- they were pairing up for stretches today. Weaving around the bodies milling around the room, Demyx eventually made his way to Zexion. The boy was standing alone in his spot, Naminé already have run off to find Kairi. Arriving before the Nekojin he started to ask to be his partner, only to have the boy walk directly past him to high-five Sora.

"Partners?" Zexion asked the boy, ears twitching slightly.

Sora looked over Zexion's shoulder. "It looks like Demyx wants to be your partner for today." He said, words heavily laced with innuendo.

"Not possible." Malice dripped from the words.

A peal of thunder cracked outside, making Demyx jump a little, but he persevered, none-the-less. "Listen- I need to talk to you." He managed, tugging idly on his tee-shirt.

Sora smiled, "Told ya." He said, turning away to run directly into Demyx's usual partner, Riku.

"Careful there- wouldn't want to knock you over." The boy said, holding the boy's shoulder as to stop him from falling.

Sora looked up at the boy, eyes wide, blush in place. "T-thanks." He whispered, looking away. Riku was more than an entire foot taller than his four feet eleven inches, standing a towering six feet tall.

"Hey Riku- could you be Sora's partner today?" Demyx asked. "And don't be mean- he doesn't deserve it."

Riku sighed. "I really don't get you sometimes." He said before leading the smaller boy away.

"That wasn't a good idea." Zexion announced, turning a glare on Demyx. "What if he hurts him?"

"That 'if' isn't going to happen. I help Riku out in swim club- he wouldn't ruin a chance to perfect his form on-" A peal of thunder echoed through the room, cutting Demyx's sentence short as he winced. When it passed he continued. "He's not that kind of guy."

A whistle blew and they were called to begin stretching. "Position one!" The teacher called, pimples standing out more than usual in the florescent lighting.

Under his breath, Zexion whispered, "Yes, professor herpes face."

Demyx chuckled. "You liked that?" Zexion didn't respond, opting instead to get into position. He lay on his back, his hair sliding away from its usual place to reveal his right eye, stretching his leg directly vertical. Recognizing his cue, Demyx took hold of the leg, using his weight to press the leg down. And down. And down. "Flexible, aren't you?" He asked as the leg stopped one inch before Zexion's stomach.

"I'm a Nekojin," was the explanation he received.

"Yeah but... wow." He was getting off track. "Anyways, I wanted to apologize for... you know. Knocking you out and stuff. Is your head okay? That ladder looked pretty solid."

"You knocked me out?"

"It was an accident- happened right after you bit me and I pushed you off... I think. I don't really remember it very well."

"Nekojin pheromones _are_ known to be potent."

"Am I the only one who didn't know that?"

"You along with every other human out there." The line held malice, and for who was obvious. They switched legs at the teacher's command, Zexion's left leg lifted to just an inch above his stomach. "I'm not feeling the stretch- could you push it down farther?"

Demyx looked at their position. "Umm... I'll have to, uh..."

"I don't mind." Zexion admitted.

Demyx paused. "Okay." Leaning his weight further on the boy's leg, it came in contact with the smaller boy's stomach at last. The blonde's weight was firm against it, demanding he lay half against the leg, body flush against the other's. "Is that right?"

"Yeah- thanks." He responded, giving Demyx a small smile of thanks.

The blonde hesitated before speaking. "Someone told me I should give you a reason why I pushed you away."

"You don't have to."

"Well I don't want to insult you!"

Zexion laughed; a rather hollow sound, to tell the truth. "You know about that?"

"Took a while, but... yeah." Demyx answered. "And I guess my answer is that I'm not into guys."

"That's not an answer."

Demyx looked up to Zexion in shock, faces almost colliding from their position. "What?"

Zexion sighed. "Gender is an excuse- it doesn't have anything to do with mating."

"But... don't you guys mate for life? If I had given in we would have been bound until... you know."

Zexion scoffed. "We don't mate for life until age twenty or so, numbskull. Until then, the Heats are just to prepare us for what's to come... or something like that."

"Change places!" The teacher called, prompting everyone to switch.

Demyx lay across the gym floor, propping his leg up in the air, where the Nekojin pressed down until it couldn't go any further. The boy smirked, whispering to the other, "Not very flexible, are we?"

"Shut it." Demyx whispered back, a blush adorning his face.

...

"You two were pretty comfortable in gym." Kairi smirked, Naminé sitting on the desk she had taken as usual. The music room was not as intimidating as before, as they had not scared the human boy away this time around. A gentle ballad floated through their ears as they chatted, the dim lighting making it impossible to see each other's faces clearly. "So he isn't in to guys, huh? Really stupid excuse."

Zexion winced. "How-"

"Naminé may not have enhanced hearing, but I sure do." The girl mused, examining her fingernails. There was a flash of lightning outside, slightly illuminating the room. "That's some insult- almost worse than turning you down. Jeez."

"It isn't as if I mind or anything." Zexion interrupted her tirade. "He thought Hybrids mated for life straight off- and if we did I really wouldn't blame him, to tell the truth. For pushing me away, I mean." He sighed. "You can't really expect more from a human, though."

Kairi laughed, reaching back to gently hold Naminé's hand. "Yeah- they're so into loving only certain people it's funny. You can't fall in love with family, the same gender, or people older than you." She smirked, standing to place a gentle kiss on Naminé's cheek before sitting on the desk with her. "Being a hybrid is so much easier than being a human, right Naminé?"

The blonde girl smiled, leaving a kiss of her own on her sister's cheek. "You can love anyone you want without worrying about others thinking ill of you."

"Except those damn humans." Zexion mused, looking to the piano where the human boy still played. "They just use it as an excuse to hate up more."

"Well, it's a good thing they don't matter, do they?" Kairi mused. "Some are okay, though. Like Demyx."

The Nekojin smiled, shaking his head slightly. "Yeah; once they cross a few lines and break a couple rules."

The redhead threw him a look. "What does that mean?"

He shook his head. "I don't really know."

"Class starts soon, guys. Let's get out of here." Naminé warned, hopping down from the desk. Kairi and Zexion followed. Halfway to the door, though Zexion turned. The boy on the piano was still playing- a new song that he recognized.

With a quick lope, Zexion made his way to the piano, watching how the keys gave under the boy's careful fingers. "I know this song." He mused, a small smile playing across his lips.

The boy grunted. "Yeah- me too," he said, startling a laugh from Zexion before he looked to the clock. "Well, I have to jet. See you around." He said, tugging a messanger bag onto his shoulder. "You should make up with Demyx, you know."

"How do you know about that?"

The boy turned, smirk spreading across thin lips. "Who doesn't?" he asked before turning to leave.

"Who are you?" Zexion asked.

The boy turned, and a flash of lightning illuminated their features. Blonde hair spiked in every direction, blue eyes that seemed to fit nicely among pale skin and clothes that a human usually avoided. Black and white- all of it. A checkerboard of colors was he. Thin and tall, nearly five foot eight, the boy had a thin line of muscle trailing through arms and legs trained for something other than music.

"I'm Roxas."

And then he left.

...

**End notes: Yeah. This story is going to be complicated. You can just **_**feel**_** it can't you? Yeah. I just screwed myself over. I am very aware of this fact. That first part with Marluxia and Demyx? Yeah. Didn't mean to actually put that there. I'm screwed, yet saved. I still had six more chapters to plan out and ran into a corner of three other scenes so this who thing really helped. Moving on, PREVIEW TIME!**

_February forth marked the start of the apocalypse._

_And no- horses weren't cutting off their jockey's heads._

**With love,**

**Updated December 7th, 2009**


	3. to February of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard disclaimer applies.**

**...**

Chapter three: February of 2010

...

_**The Exception Laws III**_

_**Hybrids are not to gather in numbers greater than twelve in any public place at any given time without government authorization.**_

...

February forth marked the start of the apocalypse.

And no- horses weren't cutting off their jockey's heads.  
This was because Demyx had to pluck up his courage to ask Zexion to his sisters birthday party, which _he_ had to chaperone since their parents had taken an Anniversary/Valentines _hike_ (read: second, possibly eighth, honeymoon) for two weeks. The blonde, at that very moment in time, was praying for a distraction of any kind as the bell fast approached. Already dressed down in his scratchy P.E. uniform, a grey shirt and black shorts, he scanned the room for any sign of the boy's signature beanie.

Zexion, however, was no where to be seen.

With a sigh, Demyx made his way over to Naminé, who was milling around near the bleachers next to the Valentines dance poster. "Have you seen Zexion?" he asked, running a nervous have through his hair. He received a disbelieving look from the girl at this. This was to be expected. After all, he was asking where Zexion was. _Zexion_. The guy who, according to the Hybrid rumor train, had jumped his bones silly two months prior.

A rumor, he hated to admit, that was not entirely false.

"Excuse me?" the small girl asked, tilting her head to the side is surprise.

Demyx sighed. "Have you seen Zexion? Is he here?"

"Zexion's sick, today," a voice from the side informed him. Kairi walked over then, draping an arm around her sister and proceeding to nuzzle the girl as she giggled and blushed. "Caught the flu or something like that. What do you want, human?"

Demyx stiffened at the mention of his species. "Larxene is inviting him to her birthday party."

The girls looked up sharply at this. "Larxene?" Naminé gasped.

"I thought her birthday was in June," Kairi glared.

"That's her molting day." Demyx sighed. "Do you know any way I could get a hold of Zexion?"

"Well there's the usual ways," Kairi mused. "You know- phone call, e-mail, going to his house-"

"-which I'd need his number for the first, E-mail address for the second, and an address and one heck of an excuse for the third," Demyx interrupted.

"I have his address, and someone needs to take him his homework." Naminé suggested.

Demyx sighed in relief. "That's great! Can you give it to me after class?"

A laugh drew eyes to Kairi. "We'll give the address and homework to you after school, okay? Be on the front steps- don't be late... And you might want to find a partner." Indeed, the bell had rung and the teachers were lining up in front of the class. "Have fun with _Riku_." The name was said with contempt.

Jogging over the Riku, Demyx followed the stretched with the boy as usual, expecting the usual lull in noise to sober his state of confusion. He didn't expect Riku to lean over and whisper into his ear. "I was kind of hoping to pair with Sora today."

Demyx didn't know what to make of this. "What do you mean?" he asked, pushing Riku's leg down towards his side.

"He was... he was kind of fun. A good partner," Demyx caught the gentle smile the boy made, suspicious as to its implications. "He was something; I'll tell you that."

Demyx looked down at Riku with a smile. "You think you guys could be friends? You could hang out with us some time."

A shake of the head was not what Demyx had been expecting. "No- it's too late for me." Riku paused, looking up to Demyx with a queer expression. "But maybe not for you."

It would be a while before Demyx knew what he meant.

...

"Wait- what?" Demyx did a double take to Kairi.

The girl sighed, wrapping an arm around Naminé's waist as she rolled her eyes. "Knock three times. No more, no less. Don't ring the doorbell, either."

"Why?"

"Because they won't open the door if you do," Naminé supplied. "It's kind of like the password to get in- Kairi, that tickles!" The girl giggled as her sister nuzzled her neck.

"But I can't help it- you're _so_ adorable today," Kairi oozed, leaving small butterfly kisses on her sister's neck.

Demyx blinked. "Are you two-" He paused, searching for the appropriate word.

"Mated?" Kairi supplied, placing another butterfly kiss on her sister's cheek. "Yeah- just last week."

Demyx's eyes widened. "But you're sisters."

"So?" Kairi scoffed.

"Blood doesn't matter to a Hybrid, Demyx. All that matters is how much you love your mate." Naminé smiled when her sister pulled her into a kiss, prompting eyes from the human students to be drawn to them, whispers exchanged with the nervous looks.

With a smile, Kairi whispered, "I couldn't have said it any better myself," into her sister's ear.

Marluxia words echoed through Demyx's head, then.

_Hybrids don't function according to _human _standards._

There was more to that than the blonde had thought.

"But I thought you had to be twenty-something to be mated," he mused, looking from girl to girl with confusion.

"The age trick thing is only for half-breeds, Demyx," Kairi supplied. "Did Sora tell you that? Last I checked he was the only half-breed here."

Eyes narrowing, Demyx shook his head. "No- Zexion told me that."

The girls looked to each other, then to Demyx in sympathy. "He probably had a good reason for lying," Naminé supplied, looking directly into the boy's eyes.

"Yeah," Demyx mused. "A good reason," he said, before another round of 'dyke' went around the front steps, earning the middle finger from Kairi. "Doesn't that ever bother you?" he asked Naminé.

The girl looked to him in shock. "Why would it bother me? It's not _my_ fault that humans are so closed minded. I mean-" She covered her mouth in shock. "I didn't mean that about _you_, of course!" Demyx said nothing.

You could say that's when it _really_ hit him. He had always thought that Hybrids were humans, just like him, just like everyone else. Always thought they were each individuals with their own sets of morals that set them apart from their family. That the rules of their society were just a little more care-free than theirs. That no matter what they were just another clique of human. But they _weren't_. Weren't _human_.

It was as obvious as the talon on Kairi's middle 'finger'.

...

It was horrible.

A house sat in the center of the block, greyer that a dreary stormy day. The lawn was dead beyond any recognition, and the windows- well, there _were_ no windows. It was a small, two-story house with a heavy metal door with dents, patches, and small holes spattering the front. There was no chimney, and Demyx idly wondered how Zexion and his family _breathed_. What _really_ caught his attention, however, was the group of kids throwing eggs at the door. It was a group of about fourteen elementary school kids. At first he thought they were just acting something out- probably a group of Hybrids just playing a friendly joke. However, that wasn't possible. For one, there were _fourteen_ of them.

_The Exception Laws III_

_Hybrids are not to gather in number greater than twelve in any public place at any given time without government authorization_.

They were yelling things like 'go away, fur faces!', 'monsters shouldn't live!', and some words that kids shouldn't know. Yes; they were human. He could only watch in anger and surprise as they launched their insults, eggs, and hatred onto the house. This had never happened to his family; not even with Larxene in the house- and Larxene was a snake! What could these kids possibly have against the Kisaragi family? Was it just because they were Hybrids? What had they done to deserve eggs being launched at their house?

"Go back to hell where you belong!" one of the smaller boys yelled, holding an egg in one cupped hand before launching it at the door. There is combusted, yolk coating the metal door which echoed through the block. The others had simply hit the porch, but this one had hit the door dead-center, leaving Demyx feeling empty.

_The egg was light in his hands, just the right size to be thrown at the heathen's door. His friends lined up with him on the block, ready to launch the eggs at the door with as much strength their five year old arms could muster._

Shaking the thought from his head, Demyx ran up to the boys, scattering them. Yelling for them to go home and leave the nice people alone; that they should be ashamed of themselves for defiling someone else's home. When the finally left, he made his way up the steps to the house. He knocked three times- no more, no less.

And there it was- the hybrid star. A six-sided star made from wood was nailed exactly where the egg had hit- leaving many of the words and colors unidentifiable. It marked one or more of the residents as a Hybrid, as was law.

_The Exception Laws XIII_

_Signs designated by the city must be posted on a Hybrid's front door listing occupations, names, and previous brushes with the law._

The star was red around the edge, and he could just make out the names _Helen Kisaragi_ and _Zexion Kisaragi_. The first name on the list, though, was covered in egg yolk- and he wasn't about to brush it off. A minute passed, and he almost knocked again before a slot opened up near the center of the door, revealing a pair of golden eyes staring eerily out at the world. "Who is it?" a hostile female voice asked, looking left and right.

Bending over to look straight into the eyes, Demyx mustered his best smile, which wasn't as good as his usual, and said, "I'm Demyx- is Zexion here?"

The eyes looked him up and down before crinkling, a sniffing sound just barely audible. Abruptly closing the hatch, the person opened the door, tugged Demyx inside, and locked the reinforced metal behind him. He was inside the house. The inside wasn't nearly as dreary as the outside; bean bags were in use instead of couches and chairs, and everything was a bright color. Pale yellow walls, violet tables, green carpet- everything was cheery and bright.

And so _happy_.

"So you're _Demyx_," the voice said from behind him, drawing his eyes from the living room. His eyes lighted upon a woman about four feet seven inches tall, clothed in blue jeans and a lime green tee-shirt. The tee had grass stains, ground in dirt, and rips that revealed another shirt beneath it, red this time. Her skin was tanned even more so than Demyx's, and the boy found himself trying to relate her to Zexion. Her long silver hair made that easy. "You smell just like him," the woman smirked, gentle features twisting into the crooked grin. The smile dropped, though, seconds later. "Too bad he didn't engrave his scent on you- you're rather handsome for a human. No bulging muscles, no overly human smells-"

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about?" Demyx asked, interrupting the woman.

She sniffed. "Could learn some manners, though." She smiled. "Still you smell pretty nice." Offering a hand, she said, "I'm Helen Kisaragi- Zexion's mother."

Demyx took the offered hand hesitantly, shaking it slowly. "Demyx Mizuchi," he said. "Umm... is it... _normal_ for kids to throw eggs at your door?"

The woman looked down. "You get used to it after a while." There was silence. "So why are you here?"

Demyx jumped before reaching into his backpack to pull out Demyx's homework- a hefty pile of papers and notes. "Homework- he wasn't at school today so someone had to bring it."

"I'll see that he gets it," Helen smiled, taking the papers form Demyx's hands and setting them on a table. "Is that all?"

"Yes- well, no," Demyx corrected himself, tugging idly at his belt-loop. "Larxene wants to invite Zexion to her birthday party- I need to pass this on," he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out the rumpled invitation. The paper was white, and you could just make out a sketched picture of a punctured spleen on the right side of the paper. "It's on Saturday."

"You know Larxene?" the woman asked, eyes twinkling in suspicion.

Demyx sighed. "She's my little sister- adopted when I was nine."

Helen took the invitation into suddenly nervous hands, flattening the paper with her fingers. "Larxene, huh? Does this mean Marluxia will be there?"

"Marluxia? You know Marluxia?"

"Of course I know Marluxia. He and Larxene came over here almost every Wednesday to do homework back in the day. Very polite kid."

Demyx sighed. "Yeah- he'll be there even if it kills him."

The woman sent him a _look_. "Do you not like Marluxia?"

Demyx groaned. "It's not that I don't _like_ him, it's that I don't want him anywhere near my sister."

"Is that all?" the woman asked, brushing a silver lock away from her eyes. Before he could say it was, she cut him off. "Is that _really_ all?"

"Is this a house or an interrogation room?" Demyx whined.

"Interrogation room, now answer me, damn it."

The blonde looked down at the woman is shock- why did people have to _cuss_ all the time? First Kairi, now her? With a sigh, he answered the question. "He's always rubbed me the wrong way. Whenever he comes over something _bad_ happens."

"Is it really his fault?"

"No, but- _Look_. There's just something _off_ about him, okay? I can't describe it, but it's _there_, _okay_?" Demyx's eyes flashed with anger as these words flew from his mouth, gaze trained steadily at the wood lime-green carpet beneath his shoes. As soon as it hit, the anger was gone. "There's just something about him."

Silence followed his words before the woman spoke up once more. "I feel it, too," she said, drawing the taller boy's eyes from the floor. "I don't know how to describe it, but Marluxia's planning something. Something _big_. Something none of us will be able to stop." She paused, looking to a staircase off to the side of the room. "He's going to do something reckless- and he's going to bring my son with him." She turned to Demyx, then, meeting his eyes with hers. "You should watch out for Larxene, you know. Just in case."

"What about Larxene?" a voice asked from the top of the staircase. Both eyes alighted upon the figure in surprise. There Zexion stood, clad only in a pair of loose-fitting blue boxers that just barely clung to his hips for dear life, clutching his signature forest green beanie in one hand. His hair was held back in a pony-tail, leaving his right eye, which was a sharp violet that clashed with the eerie yellow of his left, completely exposed. His body was bone-thin; neither fat nor muscle claimed the fragile figure that was the Nekojin, and a thin sheen of fur covered his arms, chest and neck. His legs, too, had a thin line of hair, as did the tops of his feet. He had no toe-nails, though Demyx would bet they held razor-sharp claws under a slip of skin, just like his fingers.

"Zexion- you're awake!" Helen exclaimed happily. "Larxene's having a birthday party this Saturday- think you'll be up to it?"

Zexion sighed. "I don't-"

"Marluxia will be there," Helen interrupted. This spawned a silence.

"Dad's awake," Zexion managed several minutes later. "He needs a bucket, some Listerine, and a good-" he paused, looking up the stairs to where Demyx couldn't see. "-afternoon kiss."

Mrs. Kisaragi jumped up, racing up the stairs with a "Play nice!" thrown over her shoulder as their eyes followed her up.

"You're mom's pretty cool," Demyx noted. She had reminded him of his own mother.

"Only because you smell like me," Zexion ground out. "What do you want?" he asked, tugging the beanie over his hair and ears.

It was when Zexion looked back to Demyx when everything went wrong in his head. The blonde had sudden flashes to hands pressing his down as soft lips attacked his own, mouths clashing against each other in haste and lust. Small fingers leaving trails of utter _nonsense_ across his chest, tugging his clothes off in an over-eager attempt to feel flesh-on-flesh. Memories of needy kisses and an overly talented tongue assaulted him; of how hands wandered and he was completely _hapless_ under the smaller boys touch. How he had reacted, despite fear and surprise, to the boy's body above his. It was all coming back, now; eyes half lidded with lust staring deep into his soul, soft pink lips caressing his neck oh-so-sweetly, and...

A sharp pair of incisors to shock him into reality.

"What do I _want_? Demyx asked, incredulous. "I _want_ to know why you _lied_ to me, Zexion."

"_Lied_ to you?" Zexion asked, eyes narrowing in anger. "When did I _lie_ to you?"

"You told me you wouldn't be mated until twenty. That's only true for half-Hybrids."

"The term is _half-breed_."

"Who cares?" Demyx asked, on the edge of yelling, now. Taking a deep breath, Demyx continued. "Just tell me why you lied to me."

"Because you'd never look at me straight again!" Zexion burst. Silence followed.

Demyx blinked. "What?"

Zexion sighed, tugging idly at his hair to pull it over his violet eye. There was the Zexion Demyx knew, if only for a second. Cool, composed; mature. And with all that, he still looked too delicate to handle right. Then the spell was broken. "You crossed the line, you know? In a good way. You always do." He sighed. "I just didn't want to put too much on you."

This threw Demyx for a loop. "You didn't?"

"Yeah," Zexion admitted, a smile gently forming on his lips. "You get it, but you don't, you know? You cross all the right lines while the rest of us..." He shook hid head. "The rest of us are too busy stepping all over the wrong ones to notice how lucky we are to have you."

"What do you mean?" Demyx asked.

Zexion shook his head, heaving a great sigh. "I'll tell you someday. But not now. Not now."

Demyx felt himself reaching for his camera.

_Flash_.

...

Saturday was loud.

Very loud.

Music burst from the stereo in the corner, and exactly ten Hybrids danced in the center of the room. Zexion sat on the sidelines, staring into the crowd with something a little less than interest, tugging idly on his blue turtleneck sweater. The party had kicked off nicely- with exactly eleven Hybrids as to not violate the law. Marluxia had yet to show. With a sigh, Demyx settled on the couch next to the Nekojin, sipping from a cup of tropical punch.

"He's not here," Zexion whispered, voice taught in annoyance as he leaned forward to cup the blonde's ear.

Demyx sighed, massaging his forehead with restless hands. "Not yet- he has work until five," he whispered back,

"It's five thirty," Zexion growled.

"Then he's probably changing out of his uniform." Silence reigned after this for a bit before the blonde broke the silence, again. "When do you think you'll tell me what you meant the other day?" This earned a chuckle from the smaller boy.

Leaning forward, Zexion whispered, "When I think you'll understand."

As the boy pulled away, Demyx couldn't help but notice a million things at once. How his hair was a mix of slate grey, lavender, and just a touch of _blue_. It was all starting to edge more towards a champagne grey that drew his eyes down its tresses. The boy's eye was especially yellow today, edging on gold like his mother's, and the beanie pushed his bangs over his right eye... and Demyx secretly found himself with the urge to push back that hair and look into the violet eye on the other side. To tilt the chin ever so slightly to reveal that pale, flawless, _soft_ neck he knew was there under the boy's turtle-neck.

His own was getting slightly itchy. In fact, he didn't know why he even bothered to wear one any more since everyone knew about the mark, anyways.

"Time for presents!" someone yelled, pulling Demyx out of his trance. He had been staring at Zexion's neck for almost five minutes.

Good the boy didn't notice.

Getting up from the couch, Demyx made his way to his room to retrieve Larxene's present. Wandering down the hallways, he passed the bathroom, his sister's room, and his parent's room before finally stopping before his door. Fiddling with the lock for a second, he stepped into the room, leaving the door wide open behind him. Glancing at some of the pictures on the wall, he grabbed his camera from the desk, placing it in his pocket before reaching under his bed to retrieve his sister's present.

"So this is your room." Demyx jumped, knocking his head painfully against the bed frame. Groaning in sheer pain, he turned to the source of the noise, shocked to see Zexion standing at his doorway looking around in awe at the pictures. "Did you take all of these?" he asked, walking to one of the older pictures- of a baby Larxene holding a pink stuffed snake with yellow polka-dots. She wore green footsie pajamas that matched her eyes, and sat in a baby carrier. Hanging below it, taped onto the back and hanging downwards, was a caption in very poor handwriting that read _'Larxene - 3, and Fluffy - 0. Larkseens 1 birthday heer with us. Shes my little sister, now. Mom insistid geting her the stufed snak.'_ The spelling was terrible, proving just how young he was when the picture was taken. Next to it was another picture, where Larxene was just a little older than before, holding that same snake and wearing yellow footsie pajamas. The caption, in slightly less messy handwriting, read _'Larkseen - 4, and Fluffy - 1. Turns out Larkseens a Hibred. A snak. She thretins me with her teeth sum times.'_

"Yeah- I took all of them," Demyx swelled, scanning the mass of pictures lining three of the walls. "I didn't really take many pictures at first, but... I don't know. The hobby sort of grew on me, I guess."

"I can tell," Zexion mused, scanning picture after picture as Demyx once again dove beneath the bed, scrambling to pull the heavy box from beneath it. "Did your parents really take her in?"

"Yeah." Demyx's voice was muffled from beneath the mattress. "Mom wanted a daughter, but she couldn't handle having another kid. That's when they decided to adopt. Then they got Larxene," he grunted, tugging on something. "When we got her, mom went on a heyday, getting her old stuffed animals out of the garage and the basement- you should _see_ Larxene's room- and finding all the clothes she wore as a teen. Blacks, blacks, and more blacks. It looks better on Larxene than it did mom, though." Another grunt.

Spotting something on the boy's desk, Zexion moved to look at the pile of pictures sitting in the corner. "What did your mom do when Larxene turned four? You know- when her skin started scaling and her teeth got longer," he asked, glancing to make sure Demyx couldn't see him as he edged toward the desk.

"Man this is heavy..." Another grunt. "Well, Mom just went off on another heyday- saying how much it could unite the family. I mean, she wasn't all that happy that we had to nail a six-sided star to the front door with Larxene's name on it, but she was exited to have, and I quote, 'such a unique daughter'. Said things like, 'Doesn't matter if she's a Hybrid or not, she's still our Larxene'."

"Mystery solved, huh?" the Nekojin asked, looking the pile of photos on the desk.

They were of him.

Mystery solved, huh?

Grabbing the photos from the desk, he quickly flipped through them. Him talking to Naminé, looking at the camera odd. Him hanging from the ladder in the Library, dazed expression hanging limply from his face. Him staring down from the top of the stairs, walking up them. Demyx had taken a picture? Why were all these pictures of him? And all in a pile?

Looking back to make sure the blonde wasn't looking- still preoccupied with the present under his bed- he stuffed a nearby picture into his pocket. Demyx may have had questions for him, but he had a hell of a lot more for the other boy. Placing the pictures of him back where he found them, he turned around just in time to find Demyx standing up, a box-laden arm setting him off-balance as he fell turned and his legs collapsed, falling gently onto the bed, sitting up. Laughing, he opened the box- which seemed to be from a pet store- to peer inside. Holding the box out for Zexion to see, the boy peered inside.

"Think she'll like it?" the blonde asked, looking from the contents of the box to Zexion.

Zexion smirked, shaking his head with a small chuckle. "Like it? I think she'll be nice to you for a _week_!"

"An entire _week_, huh? Now _that's_ impressive," Demyx replied, all laughter and sarcasm. "It's a miracle- Larxene-"

"You're killing it."

"Sorry." Demyx looked into the box, then back at Zexion. "Help me wrap it?"

...

"Well aren't you two just so _considerate_," Larxene drawled as the boy's stepped back in the room. Everyone looked to her in shock. The music had been turned down, merely a background noise, now, and several presents had already been opened. They had all crowded around a card table set in the center of the living room, wrapping paper and boxes crowding the table-space.

"Considerate? What are you taking about?" her brother replied, pulling a look.

The girl laughed. "You didn't have to go to the trouble of leaving the room, you know." All eyes were on them.

Demyx sighed. "Seriously, sis- _what_ are you talking about?"

She laughed. "You didn't have to run off to make out, you know. You could have done it right in here- no one would mind!" Laughter ensued.

Demyx flushed. "B-but we didn't-"

"Don't bother- they all know it's just a joke," Zexion mused silently, placing a hand on his shoulder to cut him off.

Demyx scoffed, hissing back, "Have you conveniently forgotten-"

"I hope I'm not late, everyone," a familiar voice called from the front door. A chill ran up Demyx's spine at the voice. "Work was really busy today."

"Marluxia!" Larxene burst, rushing towards the open door, leaping onto the large form of Marluxia, arms lashing around his waist. "You came!"

Holding her to him, Marluxia gently whispered, "Of course I came! Wouldn't miss this for the world."

The moment just about gave Demyx cavities. If he didn't absolutely hate Marluxia he'd probably be melting in a puddle of warmth, but-

"Are you okay?" Demyx asked, turning to Zexion.

Zexion blinked. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"It's just that you're smiling. What's up?"

"Nothing that-"

"If it isn't Zexion! I haven't seen you since I graduated!" Marluxia announced, walking over to the two, Larxene draped across his back. "That was, what, two years ago?" The man laughed. "You haven't grown an inch.

Zexion laughed- _really laughed_- and widely grinned up to the man. "And yet you're still the size of a house."

Marluxia scoffed. "I'm not _that_ tall."

"Yes you are," the blonde on his back groaned. "It feels like I'd break my legs if I fell from here!"

"Then just don't let go!"

The entire scene just seemed fake to Demyx. From the way Larxene was acting young and innocent, to how Marluxia was being playful, to... Zexion _smiling_.

Something was very wrong with the scene, and Demyx would have to find out.

So he snapped a photo, just to remember what their expressions were. The flash caught the three by surprise. They looked to him, blinking every so often as he stored to camera back in his pocket.

"Let me guess- this one will be labeled 'Three Friends Reunite'?" Larxene sniffed, grin dropping from her face. This expression was a lot more... real. That's the only was Demyx could describe it.

After a few seconds of silence, he spoke. "I don't know," he admitted. "I really don't know." The party resumed.

Later he'd look down at the digital frame, trying to find something he hadn't when he first looked at the three. There was something there that didn't belong, and he'd find it.

Eventually.

...

"Hey- weren't you going to give Larxene her present?" Zexion asked some hours later. The boy was _still_ smiling.

Demyx jumped, looking up from his place on the couch. "Huh? Oh- yeah," he mused, looking down at the present at his feet. Grabbing the large box, sagging under its weight, he made his way over to the card table they had set up. "Hey, Larxene!" he called the girl over, pointing down at the box with vigor. "Got your present right here!"

Everyone gathered around the table, eager to unwrap the very last present. Larxene hurried over, hands eagerly reaching out to rip the paper from the present. She tried to appear composed, but her nervous fingers and eager eyes gave away her feeling of a child at Christmas. Reaching for his camera, Demyx snapped a picture.

"No way!" Larxene announced happily, leaning over the present. "You got me a boa!"

"Yup- still little, though. This little guy is from me, Mom, and Dad. They let me pick the present- chipped in the money for him. You'll find food and stuff in the garage," Demyx beamed almost as much as his sister as she reached into the tank to pull out the reptile, giggling as it began to wrap around her arm, though it could only do so twice as it was only a foot long. Her arm sagged from the weight and she placed the snake back in the tank with a grin. "You guys are the best," she grinned, pulling Demyx into a hug.

Over her shoulder, he could see Marluxia talking to Zexion. Their faces were grim, and the Nekojin looked slightly confused. Whatever they were talking about, it was something they couldn't talk about with everyone else paying attention to them. Demyx could just barely contain the cold shiver down his spine. From the way they were earlier, you would have thought they would be looking upon the spectacle with silly grins slathered all over their faces, caught up in the moment- but they weren't. Whatever they were talking about, it was big; big enough to make a happy occasion grim- or big enough to lie to everyone about it.

Marluxia was planning something- Demyx just didn't know what.

He made sure to turn the flash off, just in case.

...

Valentine's day had arrived, and time had completely washed away

Demyx found himself trekking up to Zexion's house that Sunday, chocolate tucked firmly in his backpack along with that weekend's math homework. Math had never been Demyx's strong point- and Zexion firmly screamed 'scholar' in every aspect of his life. From the way he always toted around a book, to the fact that he had a key to the library. A _key_.

You have to admit that's impressive.

Walking up to the house, he took everything in again. From the dents in the door to the dead lawn.

Shaking his head, Demyx stepped up to the door, knocking three times. Yellow eyes appeared through the slot once more, and Demyx bent over for the woman to see him. "Hi, Mrs. Kisaragi. It's me, Demyx."

"Demyx!" the woman announced happily, throwing the door open to tug him inside and onto a bean-bag. The door slammed shut behind him. "Good of you to visit- I didn't know you were coming over, though."

A nervous chuckle made its way between the blonde's lips as he looked away in embarrassment. "Well, the thing is that I couldn't call ahead 'cause I don't know your number."

"Ah- well that makes sense. Well-" The woman paused, sniffing the air. "GAH! The cookies!" she exclaimed, running into what Demyx could figure was the kitchen. A few minutes passed in which Demyx could hear something being taken out of an oven, along with other things. "You came at just the right time! Could you take these up to Zexion?" the woman asked, coming back into the room with a plate-full of cookies. "He's the second door on the left."

"Sure- I'll do that."

"Have a could, if you want!" she yelled after him as he went up the stairs. "Second door on the left!"

"Thank you," he said, taking eager steps up the stairs. The farther Demyx got into the house, the more... at home he felt. The carpet was soft, and the staircase was very gradual compared to other houses he'd been to. It was easy to walk up, and he didn't stumble at all. The carpet on the second floor was a gentle blue-lavender, while the walls were each painted a different color. One wall would be purple, another would be red, and on the far wall you were assaulted with a neon-green that left you slightly blind. Instead of overhead lights, they had soft lamps with electric candles dimly lighting the hallway just enough to put everything in a softer tone. Demyx idly wondered if the lime-green would look as welcoming at night as the red wall did.

Then there it was- the second door on the left. Stealing himself, he knocked once, twice, three times of the door. Inside Zexion jumped, slipping the picture he'd taken from Demyx's room back into its hiding place.

"Come in," he voiced, laying back on his bed, staring idly at his Chemistry homework.

"Your mom made cookies," Demyx said, offering the plate to the boy.

Zexion looked up in shock. "Demyx? What are you doing here?"

Jostling his backpack, the blonde shrugged. "Are you good at math?"

...

"I better get home," Demyx observed. "It's getting late."

"Yeah, it is," Zexion agreed. "How's Larxene liking that snake?"

"Oh- Fluffy? She loves him." Zexion didn't question the name choice. "Oh yeah-" Demyx exclaimed, digging in his backpack for a minute before pulling out the chocolate bar. "Happy Valentine's Day, Zexion."

Zexion stared at the chocolate for a bit before saying, "You know chocolate's an aphrodisiac, right?"

Demyx blinked. "A what?"

"An aphrodisiac. It's a stimulator for the body. Subdues it and-"

Demyx flushed. "I know what an aphrodisiac is! It's just- what does that have to do with anything?"

He shrugged. "Don't you think it's a little inappropriate?"

"Do you not want it or something?" Demyx asked, shifting from foot to foot nervously. Blue eyes flicked from corner to corner, noting the forest green walls, the plain furniture, and the incredibly comfy red and blue bed they had been sitting on for nearly two hours where Zexion had explained the Pythagorean theorem, among other things, to him. "I mean, you don't have to accept it if you don't want to."

The Nekojin didn't answer right away, instead shook his head and looked down, once more, at the chocolate bar. "Just thought it was a little ironic- that's all."

Demyx sighed. "Well, I really have to get going, now." Shouldering his bag, he made his way to the bedroom door. "See you tomorrow."

"See you..." he managed after a bit.

But Demyx was already gone.

With a sigh, Zexion placed the chocolate bar on his bedside table. Valentine's Day? It was like Demyx was _begging_ for the others to misunderstand. He just didn't _get_ it sometimes.

And then sometimes he did.

With a sigh, Zexion pulled the photo he had taken from Demyx's room from its hiding place. In the photo, Demyx lay on his bed staring up at the camera. On either side were his arms- a self shot. It had been taken recently, maybe a couple months before hand, and there was nothing really special about the photo. Nothing at all. In fact, Zexion didn't even want the photo. And yet he took it. Through his eyes it was fair, though. Demyx had photos of him, so it was only fair that Zexion have a photo of the blonde. It was only fair. It was probably one of those things that the boy wouldn't understand, though. One of the many things.

But, then again, Zexion really didn't understand it himself. Ever since the party he'd been asking himself over and over again; _Why did I take it?_

_And why can't I stop looking at it?_

**...**

**Next chapter post date: December 7th, 2009**

**End notes: I hope everyone liked this chapter, because I worked really hard on it. This last month it was really hard to find time to work on this chapter. It also ended on a really bad note, resulting in some things that might take a while to fix, and some things I won't be able to replace. There's no preview for the next chapter this time. Sorry. I just don't have it in me to write any more today, cause I had to write everything in two days. I bet you're all happy with how it turned out because this chapter, not including the ending note, was over 6,000 words long and held a lot of hints for future chapters.**

**Also- the previous two chapters have been updated as of today's post (November 2, 2009) so you might want to check them out.**

**Reviews don't speed up the posts, but they do make me feel better- and after this month, I could really use some encouragement.**

**With despair,**

**Besieged Infection**

**Updated December 7th, 2009**


	4. to March of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard disclaimer applies.**

**...**

Chapter Four: March of 2010

**...**

_**The Exception Laws IV**_

_**Hybrids must register with their city of residence and must carry their I.D. card with them at all times.**_

...

_It was the morning of Friday, March 12th. The egg was light in his hands, just the right size to be thrown at the heathen's door. His friends lined up with him on the block, ready to launch their eggs at it with as much strength their five year old arms could muster._

_They all seemed to wait for a signal from the house they stood before to start. As if the house itself seemed to size them up. A car drove by, and they all just stood there. The house was a dull yellow, bright and cheery, with red trim. Grass was neatly mowed, flower bed tended, and a rope swing hung from a large oak, obviously used a lot if the indent of the wooden seat was any indication. All this was kept behind a tall, white-picket fence._

_"Go away!" a small blonde boy yelled, stepping forward to toss the egg high over the fence towards the front door of the house. It fell short on the pathway, spattering those within range with spots of yolk and eggshells. Blue eyes shined with mirth as it landed, though he was not satisfied._

_One of the other boys, a silvrette, yelled, "Go back to hell!", launching his own egg into the yard. He grinned in satisfaction as it hit the side of the house with a sick _splat_, his face split with a smile in pure grim amusement. Other voices and eggs followed his, curses filling the air around him. Pure adrenaline coursed through the blonde as he fired another egg at the house. This one hit the sidewalk, as well. Followed by another, and another. One, a woman peeked out behind the curtains, wincing as half a dozen eggs pelted the glass at the sight of her face._

_By the time they were almost out of eggs, they had yet to hit the front door. The windows had gotten the worst of it._

_Something in the air snapped. "Die, fuckers!" the blonde heard himself yell, preparing to launch the last egg at the house._

_"Stop," a woman yelled racing over the grasp the boy's arm. She brushed a dark bang out of her eyes, wide in shock and disgust as she tugged him away from the house. "What did they ever do to you, huh?"_

_"They're demons," the boy spat at her, his eyes boring into her matching ones. "They deserve it. All of them do."_

_"Just because someone is different doesn't make them bad."_

_"Says who? You?" A smirk followed the words. "That just means you're the enemy, too."_

_"And you're my son," the woman argued, brushing back the bang that had once more fallen into her face. "Does that make _you_ the enemy? Huh?"_

_Someone behind him shouted "Demon-lover!" at her, soon joined by other voices. The blonde knew better, though. Instead, he apologized- not bothering to mean it._

_She glanced to the house, then to her son with a searing look. "I am _very_ disappointed in you, Demyx," she hissed, taking his left arm into a vice-grip. Demyx didn't bother struggling. Instead, he used his last moments in range of the house to toss his last egg into the yard, over the picket fence. Instead of landing on the concrete, as the rest of them did, this one sailed right over the perfectly manicured lawn, colliding with the front door with a large _crack_._

_The six-sided star fell off the nail and onto the porch, pasted in yolk, and Demyx swelled with pride. His eyes shone in his moment of joy, but the light faded as he turned to his mother. Then they were inside the car, headed home, and he had expected her to be mad at him, maybe even yell. She had told him before not to ever do this again, but there they were. He had dreaded the moment she would raise her voice at him and tell him what-for. Tell him about nonsense he didn't care about._

_Right then, he would have preferred that over... this._

_His mother wiped a tear from her eye, blinking back the moisture that was forming there in an attempt to keep her eyes on the road. "I give up," she whispered. "You obviously don't care and you never will. Everyone says you should hate them, so you listen. You always do. Always to them and never to me." She laughed, then; a bitter, hollow sound that didn't belong anywhere near her beautiful features. Pale porcelain skin, smooth as glass, that shined with its own warmth, and eyes as big as you please. Delicate features, soft hair- a real beauty, she seemed to radiate light from her very being._

_Not today. Today she was dull and lifeless- cold and tired._

_It's hard _not_ to cry when you know you did that to someone. How Demyx kept it in then was beyond him._ _The only thing he could do without breaking was the quietly whisper, "I'm sorry," to his mother._

_This time he meant it._

...

"Last day of school!" a voice exclaimed, the owner of which pumping his arm into the air in his enthusiasm. It was Hayner- a Human. The teacher had left them to their own devices in the last fifteen minutes of school, the poor bastard. (Read: He couldn't handle teens on the brink of vacation.)

"Three weeks of mind-numbing unproductive _boredom_. I can't wait," Zexion mused, sarcasm all but ignored.

"I wasn't talking to you, _freak_," the boy scoffed, turning back to his friends. The Nekojin simply brushed the words off, looking back down to his book.

"Not cool, Hayner," a voice mused. Zexion glanced up, only to be graced with blue eyes, spiky blonde hair, and more black and white than should be allowed on a human. The Nekojin nodded in thanks- it was Roxas. "So what if he has ears and a tail? That doesn't make him any different from us."

"This again?" Hayner scoffed. "Just drop it."

And that marked the end of it. Zexion ignored the two friends' mini-argument, opting instead to glance up at the clock.

Ten minutes before school ceased to exist for an entire three weeks.

"Zexion?" Someone prodded him from behind, soft voice hesitant. "You going tonight?"

Zexion blinked, turning to face Naminé in the seat behind him. "Going where?" he asked, resting his arms on the back of his chair. Idly, he glanced back at the clock. Nine minutes and forty-five seconds.

The girl sighed, moving a pencil along her desk. She was drawing a paupu- a specie of star fruit that grew in the Destiny Islands. It was a popular logo, considering Twilight Town, where they lived, was as far from tropical as you could get (They were right next to Traverse Town, though, which was a big politically based city (ignore the 'Town' part of the name- it's practically the capitol) so they were kind of important to the world, at least... sort of.) so everyone was jumping for something along the lines of a vacation.

She rolled her eyes, something so un-Naminé-like that Zexion was slightly disturbed. "The _party_, remember? Sora's end of school party." Zexion blinked. With a sigh, Naminé lowered her pencil. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Would it disturb you if I did?"

Slamming her hands down on the desk, drawing eyes from both the classmates and teacher, Naminé groaned. "Zexion- this has been planned for weeks! Sora was hoping you'd be there since you missed the last one."

"I never said I wasn't going."

"But you're not going, are you?" This earned her no response. Slouching down in her chair, she gave another sigh of exasperation. "Why are you avoiding him?" she asked, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead- almost as if she were in pain.

Zexion blinked in his confusion, shifting in his chair. "I'm not avoiding Sora, Naminé. Not at-"

"It's not Sora I'm talking about," Naminé quietly whispered, eyes snapping open to bore into Zexion's. She held his gaze, then, lips barely moving with her words. "Stop avoiding him."

Clenching his jaw, the Nekojin responded, voice tight. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She laughed, then. Her voice was... oddly hollow. Was something wrong? Something wrong with her and Kairi? "Right- I haven't so much as _heard_ of you to getting near each other for _weeks_. Since before Valentine's day. Why are you avoiding him?"

"I'll tell you later."

"When?"

Zexion sighed. "Look- I'll go to the party tonight, but I'm leaving town for the break." Leaning back in his chair, then leaning forward again when his tail didn't agree with the position, he continued. "I'll be back around the thirty-first. I'll call you then, okay? We'll go for a walk. Just promised me there'll be no Demyx and no Kairi."

She smiled, then, her expression finally softening. "Promise."

...

Music at Hybrid parties was always excessively loud, for some reason- even though many of them had sharp hearing. Maybe it was because they knew that if the music was loud the neighbors would complain and the police would automatically assume it was a human party.

As long as Demyx was the one to open the door, that is.

And they were violating about three Exception laws.

For one, there were about thirty Hybrids at the party- _well_ over the twelve Hybrid limit set by the humans that ran things, which you know is law number III. There was also IV, which, as you also know, says that Hybrids weren't allowed to go _anywhere_ without their ID cards. Of course, there are trackers on ID cards that alert the city when they align with twelve or more ID cards. Sora had even gone as far as stashing his ID card in a secret seam inside his mother's suitcase while she was on her weekend trip with Dad. (They had apparently gone to a hotel to get some _alone_ time.) Thus, they had left the cards at home. The worst law that they were breaking, of course, was neither of these.

_The Exception Laws XIII_

_Signs designated by the city must be posted on a Hybrid's front door listing occupations, names, and previous discrepancies with the law._

They had taken the six-pointed star off the front door.

These were some serious rules they were breaking. Not just the 'no electronics at school' kind of rules, the one's that no one cares about, but the rules that are actually _enforced_. The _big_ rules. The _really_ big rules.

They couldn't be happier.

The nail embedded in the door seemed really lonely to Demyx- like something was missing. Doors always looked like that when something that was always there suddenly _wasn't_. Wood grain was always a shade darker in the spot where something was, and you could just _tell_ when something was missing. It was just one of those things where you could tell something was off, like whenever Demyx forgot his camera he felt... _bare_. The door looked lonely to him. That's just what it looked like to him.

Sora's front door was lonely.

Hybrids danced together in the Inujin's living room like people possessed, weaving in and out between each other in the condensed space. A table across one wall held refreshments sporting punch, pretzels and, oddly enough, select bowls of what looked to be _catnip_. When Demyx asked Sora about this, he got a reaction along the lines of 'just this joke between a few friends', or something like that. He didn't find out what the deal was, even _after_ all the Nekojins arrived- there were only three, including Zexion.

By two in the afternoon, many people had abandoned the living room in favor of turning the kitchen into something along the lines of an all-you-can-eat delicacy bar. Everyone had pitched in for different ingredients and the cooking ones of the group were churning out culinary masterpieces like carbon dioxide. Before six, people started making their way back to the 'dance' floor, bodies pounding back and forth. Demyx just watched the others have fun- he wasn't much one for dancing, after all, so he sat down and sipped at his cup of punch.

Cup after cup of the party-drink later, Demyx found himself drifting off. In fact, after a while he didn't even know what he was _drinking_. It was a little too sharp to be punch, and it burned his mouth a little with each sip. Whatever it was, it seemed to sharpen his mind before shoving a sort of 'mellow' into his mood with each sip. Curious how it never occurred to the boy it had been spiked. Repeatedly.

After a while, Demyx became pretty oblivious to a lot of things- like the music. The soft music flowing through the room. It seemed as if the people in the living room, their temporary dance floor, were moving from side to side to nothing. Because that's what he was registering- nothing. Soon he didn't see the Hybrids slow dancing with each other, hear any of the music, or even feel the sharp sting of the 'punch'. He didn't even notice the slight dip in the couch when someone sat next to him. It was to his credit, however, that he _did_ notice when the weight started to talk to him.

"Didn't know you'd be here," they commented, taking a sip from their own cup- punch, as well. "You don't strike me as the type for parties. Especially _illegal_ ones."

A shiver went up Demyx's spine at the voice, the blonde gritting his teeth in something akin to anger. "Doesn't matter if I strike you as the type, _Marluxia_," he spat the name with malice, teeth gritting to keep himself from... doing something. He didn't know what. "I go to these things every time they have them- _especially_ the illegal ones. They need me here, after all."

"So I've heard," Marluxia responded, smooth as ever. "You really are indispensable to these guys, you know? To all of us."

"So I've heard." Downing the last of his drink, Demyx went to refill the cup. Sipping lightly, he trekked back to the couch. Collapsing lightly onto the couch, he turned to Marluxia. "What do you want with my sister?"

The man laughed- a sound that sounded somewhat off. "Straight to the point, aren't you?"

"Answer the question," he snapped.

There was a moment of thought before the answer, and it occurred to Demyx that he was taking this seriously. That was a first. "I don't know, to tell the truth."

This confused him. "What about friendship?"

"We already have that, don't we?" Marluxia asked, running a hand through his 'hair'. "I want more than that, I guess."

"You want her as your mate," Demyx deadpanned, swerving slightly in his seat to see the guy. Marluxia laughed, his face alight in embarrassment. He was blushing?

"Is it that obvious?" he asked, leaning back on the couch, observing the couples that began to dance to harder music, once more. "Actually, it might be. I mean- here I am, twenty years old, spending almost all my free time with a girl who's barely in middle school. I feel like a cradle-robber." He laughed again, looking down at the floor in what seemed to be... shame? Fear? "I'm not good for her, though."

Ah. Longing.

"Why do you say that?" Demyx asked. He didn't even notice as the creepy feeling he always had about the man diminished under what appeared to be sympathy.

Another laugh. "She deserves someone better- someone who won't drag her down."

"Drag her down?" Now he was royally confused, and the fuzz in his brain wasn't helping.

"I'll be properly mated in a few months, now, and she won't be feeling those things for- what? Year?" He sighed. "If I tell her and she agrees then she'll be stopped from ever finding true love." Another sigh. "As I said- dragging her down."

Demyx blinked, trying to make sense of what the man was saying. Some things clicked, though it took a while, and he missed a few things Marluxia said. He didn't care, though. "Are you saying you're worried about the age difference? I thought that didn't matter to Hybrids."

Curious eyes turned on him. "No- it doesn't matter to _humans_, and even then there's some limitations in which they _do_ matter. _This_ is one of those limitations," he mused, reaching over to pluck Demyx's drink from his hands, downing the glass in one shot.

That's about when Demyx fell asleep.

He woke several hours later.

"Are you okay?" a boy asked, eyes traveling down the blonde's frame in shock.

Demyx looked up, blinking slightly. "Wha'?"

The boy sighed. "You drank the punch, didn't you?" This earned him a half-hearted nod. "Will your parents mind that you're smashed?"

"Sm'sh'd?" Demyx mumbled. "I d'nno... M'be..."

With a blink, the boy held the taller boy's chin between nail-free fingers- a Hybrid. "Is this you're first time being drunk?" he asked, earning an unintelligible grumble. "Answer me, Demyx."

"M'be..."

Groan escaping between his lips, he tugged the taller boy into a standing position. "C'mon," he said, steadying the older boy as much as he could. "Let's get you someplace safe."

"S'fe?"

"The police rounds are coming by, soon. Everyone's heading home," the Hybrid sighed, scratching behind one Nekojin ear. It couldn't be Zexion- _he_ always wore a beanie that _his_ his ears. "From the look of things, you'll need a head start- which we already lost."

"S'rry..." Demyx managed.

"Don't worry about it," the stranger said, tugging him up by the belt.

...

There was a door with holes in it, then lime green carpet, yellow walls, and the smell of peanut butter cookies- or maybe they were sugar cookies. Demyx couldn't tell. Along with all this there was a familiar set of stairs, and soft, almost romantic lighting. The lime green wall was rather intimidating- just as it was during the day- and the violet was looking _oh-so-inviting_ while the red was just _there_. Blue-violet carpets soft under sock-feet, and a phone call that didn't really make sense was made by Zexion- or someone that _looked_ like Zexion. Demyx couldn't be sure. This Zexion was smiling and laughing.

"Seriously, Marluxia- its nothing. No one stopped us- we got home all right. Thanks for worrying."

He was talking to... Marluxia?

_Marluxia?_

Some things made sense to Demyx in that moment, and some things didn't. In fact, _most_, if not _all_, of it didn't make any sense _what-so-ever_. He hadn't caught all the words from the conversation, but... that was the thing. He _didn't_ need to catch the whole thing. The fact was that you don't have to _smile_ for a _phone call_. You just _don't_.

Zexion didn't smile. Not for anyone.

But he did for that phone call.

When the Nekojin hung up, a small sigh and an even smaller smile in place, one thing fit. And for some reason that bugged Demyx. Through his drunken stupor, something had gotten through- and he didn't like it.

They were in Zexion's room in Zexion's house sitting on Zexion's bed, where they had just finished calling Demyx's house to talk to Demyx's parents to tell them that Demyx couldn't make it home cause hang-out time had lasted too long. And Marluxia had been the one to pick up the phone for some reason. Marluxia was the one to make Zexion laugh, smile, and make him generally _happy_ every time Demyx saw them together. And Demyx might not have been a genius, but he sure wasn't stupid. He knew how to call things when he saw them. He'd had his share of problems before, but this one took the cake. This one he couldn't do anything about.

"Demyx?" the smaller boy whispered. "Demyx, are you awake?"

He idly wondered how they got there. Zexion couldn't have carried him.

Could he?

"Demyx?"

He didn't really know. There were so many things he didn't know about Zexion- like what kind of person he was. Maybe this was one of those things.

"Your eyes are open- are you awake?"

His eyes _were_ open- taking in the sight of Zexion soaked in moonlight, pale skin flawless, smooth.

_Beautiful_, he thought.

Zexion blinked, face contorting in confusion. "What did you just say?"

_You're beautiful_, he thought.

"You can't be serious."

He had been saying it out loud.

"Shit," Demyx mumbled, attempting to sit up. Hands pressed him down, though, and he found himself collapsing back onto a familiar, but not so familiar, bed. His head was splitting. "Where am I? What time is it?"

An exaggerated sigh escaped from the younger boy as he took a seat next to him. "You're at my house, and it's almost midnight."

"You couldn't take me home? I live closer to Sora than you do," the blonde managed around his hangover.

Zexion sighed. "I would have, but when I asked if your parents would mind if you were drunk you didn't exactly say no." Then he yawned. In a moment of what he could only explain to be madness, Demyx moved over on the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Lay down," the blonde ordered, crawling under the blankets despite how moving, as he learned from making room for the smaller boy on the bed, made him slightly nauseous.

Zexion blinked. "Why?"

With a sigh, Demyx tugged the blankets up to his neck. "You're tired and it's your bed."

"But you're sick- you get priority."

"And you're keeping me out of trouble," Demyx argued. "Now lay down."

After a few minutes of hesitation, Zexion crawled beneath the covers, the bed so small their backs pressed against each other. Demyx unconsciously pressed back against the weight, enjoying the heat the extra body produced. The Nekojin turned, ear brushing against the blonde's head, and something occurred to him. "Thank you," Zexion whispered.

"You're not wearing your hat," Demyx noted. "Why?"

"I'm not?" Zexion asked, reaching up to touch his ears. "Crap!" he exclaimed, jumping from the bed. The movement made Demyx's stomach lurch.

"What is it?"

"I must have lost it sometime during the party," he panicked, pacing back and forth. "No _wonder_ everyone was looking at me weird!"

"Zexion- drop it. It's just a hat." Demyx groaned, clutching at his head.

"It's not _just a hat_, Demyx!" Zexion argued, tugging at his hair is his anger. "It's how I _hide_, okay?"

"Hide from what?"

"You!" Silence met these words, and a look of horror crossed Zexion's face. "Well- not from _you_, anyways. From _Humans_. I-" He cut off, looking down at the floor. "I don't want them to think I'm a freak."

And it finally clicked. Everything. Demyx always thought that Zexion got along with Naminé better than he did Kairi because Naminé was easier to handle. Because she was quieter, more refined, he found himself similar.

That just wasn't the case.

Maybe that's why he had smiled when he was talking to Marluxia, too. And Sora.

"You want to be human," Demyx deadpanned, looking from the bed to Zexion's ashen face. "That's why you hide your ears under that beanie all the time. You want to be human."

"Shut up. You've got it wrong."

"No." Demyx was on a roll, now- fueled by something unknown to him. He knew that some Hybrids weren't proud of what they were- that they were considered a 'lower being' and such. To be dangerous and just... less. Some of the Hybrids believed that they were less- because humans tell them they are less, fearing Hybrids thinking they are more- and that they were a hazard to those around them. "You're ashamed of yourself. Of your specie."

"Shut up, Demyx. You don't know what you're-"

"You hate yourself." There was no response to this. With a start, he realized what he said. "Zexion-"

"Just shut up." His voice was shaking, now. His arms were shaking. Heck- his entire _body_ was shaking. Zexion hugged himself, then, hands clenched into his arms in an attempt to stop the shivers that wracked his body. "Just shut _up_!" It had been too long since...

The sound shot through Demyx's skull, ringing in his head as sharp as if it had been stuck there with a syringe, and poorly so. He winced. "Zexion- there's nothing wrong with who you-"

"I don't want to hear this from _you_," Zexion nearly shouted, backing into the wall.

Demyx blinked, confused. "Why?"

"Human," he hissed. And that was the end of it.

Grabbing the boy's arms, he tugged the boy towards the bed. A semi-familiar smell wafted up to his nose, but he ignored it. "Now go to sleep."

"No!" Zexion complained, tugging himself from the older boy's arms, but he was too strong for him. He struggled, then, turning this way and that within the boy's grip. "Let me go. Now."

"You're going to sleep. You need it more than I do," Demyx growled, pushing the boy towards the bed, only to have the boy squirm even more in his grip. There was a shock of pain, but it wasn't in his head. Glancing to his arm, Demyx felt himself go weak.

Then things went blank.

Zexion looked down on Demyx's limp body, almost in shock as to how the boy just _lay_ there. He had passed out cold, and then he just lay there. Looking down at his hand, he was almost shocked to see his claws out.

Thin drops of blood trailed across them, ever so lightly. He looked from his claws to Demyx's arm, and there was only one thing that came to mind.

"Holy shit," he mused, running a hand through ruffled campaign grey hair. Today was not a good day.

It had been too long...

...

"What do you mean you lost your beanie?" Helen inquired, tugging at her own. "Zexion, if you don't have your beanie you can't go."

"I know."

"My hat's aren't configured for you- and neither are Satoshi's..." she mused. With a sigh, she turned back to the oven, pulling her latest batch of cookies- ones for the trip- from it. These were oatmeal. She offered him one, only to catch his arm in one hand, setting the cookie on the counter and reaching into her apron to pull out a syringe. The sight of the glowing blue liquid brought something along the line of relief to Zexion's eyes. He sighed as she jammed it into his arm, even though the needle stuck into a tendon in its path to his veins.

It had been too long...

"If you had your hat it wouldn't be nearly this painful. You know this," his mother growled. Snatched a cookie from the rack, she handed it to Zexion. The cookie had yet to be cooled, but it was merely a comforting heat in his hand- it was a side effect from what was inside the needle...

The blue liquid burned through his veins, then, shocking his system into submission as his mother withdrew the syringe. He fell to his knees, then, fingers twitching to reach for his eyes. They burned. He didn't remember it hurting this much.

Of course, this time he didn't have his guiding system on.

He clenched his eyes shut, willing the pain to stop.

It didn't. Looking down to his arm, he saw that the liquid had formed a lump under his skin in his vein- and it wasn't going away. He groaned. Standing up straight, Zexion looked his mother in the eyes- almost thanking her.

"If they try to take you, you know where to go," she mused, a motherly look overcoming her grimace. "The password this week is 'Lifestream', and we'll call next week with next week's password, okay?" She ruffled her sons hair, then.

"Good morning!" a voice called from the entrance to the kitchen. Zexion looked back to the boy, then dodged around him to get to the bathroom.

"Morning," he murmured, glancing down to the blonde's arm. He's bandaged it the night before. He took that moment to will down a blush.

Demyx was shirtless, after all, and the sight wasn't exactly unpleasant.

Rushing into the bathroom, Zexion quickly closed and locked the door behind him. Looking into the mirror, he saw the effects already taking place. His eyes had changed to an electric blue, staring sharply back at him (he idly wondered if Demyx noticed). Lifting his shirt from his body, the Nekojin found the muscles in his stomach taking form. Massaging the lump in his arm, he watched as the glowing blue spot under his skin dissipated until it was no longer there. Looking back to the mirror, he saw his skin take on a perfect shade of white, flawless, and it tightened over his body until he was the perfect picture of health. He could feel the cells moving, reforming, in his eyes as they changed into something else. Everything then when into stark relief. Fur glossed over, almost a perfect periwinkle blue, now. Ever since he'd agreed to start the injections his fur had begun changing color. His mother dyed hers, as electric blue was not a common color of fur.

Not that 'electric blue' was the actual name of the color.

He smirked, then, looking into the mirror with a smirk, before pulling the shirt back on and leaving the bathroom. His entire body throbbed, pain shooting through his pads with every step. He ignored it. It really had been too long, and it didn't help that he lost his guidance system. The substance could be dangerous without a guidance system, but as long as he got it within the next few days he'd be fine.

He idly thought maybe he was addicted, but pushed the thought aside.

Everyone got addicted to this stuff at one point. He was just lucky he got addicted while he could still recover from it.

Demyx, at that moment, was just concerned about electric blue eyes.

Ones that stared right through his soul.

...

In all honest truth, Zexion was glad he wasn't going on vacation. They would have been gone for two weeks with nothing but sand to keep them company. He didn't like sand. Or water. Especially water.

He chose to read in his time off, instead.

A knock on the front door drew him out of his book with a growl. Lifting himself from his bed, his body more cooperative than ever before, he dragged himself downstairs, through the living room, and opened the door with a glare. "What do you want?" he asked, voice no lower than a growl aimed towards a very scared looking blonde.

"Can I come in?"

"Mom and Dad are on vacation."

"But I'm not friends with them, am I?" He was let in, then. The heavy metal door, dents and all, slammed behind him. "So what's with the blue?" the blonde asked, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.

"Blue?" Zexion inquired, eyes narrowing with confusion.

Demyx sighed, gesturing to the boy's face. "Your eyes. You get colored contacts?"

Silence.

"Maybe."

Silence again.

"Look, I came to give you this, okay?" he groaned, holding out a green beanie to the boy. _Zexion's_ green beanie.

The Nekojin smirked. "I was about to call Sora about that."

This earned a small laugh and a smile. "Yeah, well now you don't have to," Demyx mused, collapsing into one of the bean bag chairs.

"Thanks," the Nekojin mused, dropping into his own bean bag chair. They were silent for a while before Demyx spoke up.

"Question."

"Yeah?"

"How does a race that can't run half a mile without going into hyperventilation manage to rule the entire world for as long as they did?" he inquired. It had always bugged him, really.

"You mean back in the Hybrid era?"

"Yeah."

"So from year ninety-five to 1525," Zexion mused.

"That _was_ the Hybrid era." Demyx chuckled.

With a sigh, Zexion fell further into his chair, careful not to sit on his tail wrong. He contemplated telling Demyx he just didn't know, but that would be a lie. "Mako," he admitted.

The blonde looked to Zexion in confusion, blinking in an attempt to clear the inner mess of his thoughts. "Mako?"

"Yeah; Mako," Zexion mused, shifting again in his seat. "It has an effect on us Hybrids that is unlike its effect on humans. You humans simply get sick, but we," he paused, shaking his head with a chuckle. "Super-human strength, almost. But the intake had to be almost constant. Back then we grew it in food, but now..."

"It's illegal," the blonde finished. "Is that why you guys are so weak?"

Zexion nodded. "Mako withdrawal, really, was our downfall. All the humans needed to do was cut off our Mako and we were sitting ducks."

There was silence after that. The blonde turned to look at the boy next to him, taking in the slim form of the grey furred Nekojin. It was at that moment that he knew it wasn't just the alcohol the night before that had made him think the boy beautiful.

Because he was, in his own way.

Flawless skin, slim fingers, small nose- Demyx tore his eyes from the boy, almost forcefully so. It was then that it really occurred to him what was happening.

He had been staring at Zexion, taking him in inch by flawless inch. Pale, perfect skin; eyes striking both in their glowing mako blue form or their usual mismatched violet yellow pair;

Either he was gay or Zexion was the only exception.

Something told him it was the latter.

...

**Next post date: January 10th, 2010**

**End notes: Yeah- another last-minute part that added SO MUCH onto the plot! So... yeah. Thank you all for the reviews! You should all know that I modified chapters two (again) and three. A few things have changed, and this chapter will most likely be changed in the very near future, just because I really don't like it. Also- I'm posting another story in two weeks called 'Names'. It's a one-shot, so don't worry about me missing a post-date or something. I actually made sure to finish this chapter early in order to write it, so yeah... As for what went on this month... things have been calm, sorta. For once. This month I have gone through four notebooks, three choir concerts, two cartons of orange juice, and one relationship. (The orange juice was really good.) I also got a DSI! (Not allowed to touch it 'til Christmas, though...) So yeah- here's your preview!**

_Returning from the bathroom, Demyx made his way down the multi-colored walls that were Zexion's second floor. The dim lighting cast meager shadows on either side, almost as if it were casting a spell of romance over him. With a sigh, he traced a finger over one of the walls- blue. It had once been lavender. This new color was almost the exact shade of Zexion's fur- a dull mix of campaign grey and blue. So calm and soothing..._

_Brushing the thought aside, he made his way down the hall- second door on the left- and pushed Zexion's door open, only to be met with a shout._

_"Hey- I'm changing, here!"_

**I'll let that torture you for a bit. Yes, I am smiling.**

**Review enough and I might just double the output of these things! (Read: Two posts a month, people!)**

**With love,**

**Besieged Infection**

**Update: End lines changed as of January 10, 2010**


	5. to April of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard disclaimer applies.**

**I know it's late, but happy new years, everyone! (Akemashite omedeto gozaimas!)**

...

Chapter five: April of 2010

...

_The Exception Laws V_

_Hybrids are not to obtain awards recognizing specific achievements._

...

April had never been Demyx's favorite month. Not only because of school's resuming- but because of the weather that accompanied the name.

April showers bring May flowers.

Unfortunately, those 'showers' were, on more that one occasion, accompanied by lots of 'boom's, 'crack's, and static electricity. All was well and good for Larxene, who nothing short of _loved_ electricity, but this left Demyx feeling... weak.

Let's just say that the first day of school, April fifth, was not easy for the boy.

"Demyx, would you please _lift your head from your desk_?" a voice asked, prompting the boy to look up from his cowering to his new English teacher.

"Mr. Saïx, I-"

"No excuses. Not enough sleep? Your problem." The only thing Demyx was thankful for at that moment was that class had not started, yet, so they didn't have everyone's attention. Another round of thunder went through the courtyard, right outside the window, and he suppressed a flinch.

"Yes, Mr. Saïx."

"I suggest you pull yourself together before class, Mr. Mizuchi, before you make a habit of this." And with that, the man made his way through the aisle, slipping gracefully into his seat.

Demyx had seen the teacher around once or twice in his days as a Freshman, and there was something… _off_ about the man. His gold eyes, blue-tinted slate hair- very similar to Zexion's-, and pale complexion always seemed different from the other teachers. However, he was too tall to be a pure-blood hybrid. Maybe a half-breed? And what kind of animal was he? And if he _was_ a Hybrid, how did he get his degree? Maybe he was just weird. Or maybe He just wore contacts, since he might have vision problems from when he got that big 'x' shaped scar on his forehead.

Students began to file in, but Demyx was oblivious to their numbers. He had no idea why he was in advanced Sophomore English. Or was it Junior English? He couldn't really tell. After all- there were only three years in high school, but four names to assign to them. Either way, he wasn't very good at articulating, so it made no sense that he was in _advanced_ English. He was in no way inclined toward the subject.

The teacher started calling role, and Demyx raised his hand when called. Not that he was really paying attention. Burying his head under his arms, the blonde clenched his teeth as another round of thunder crashed, bringing a round of thunder along with it. The lightning was striking close, today. Too close. Naminé sat to his left, sketching something, but he paid her no heed as everyone was told to stand up, even as she stumbled in her haste to get up quickly after stuffing everything quickly in her bag as Mr. Saïx began assigning seats.

After a while, he finally called for him, setting him in a seat right, god help him, next to the window. With a gulp, Demyx sat in the assigned seat, movements jerked and uneven, clenching tightly to his chair. His knuckles turned white under the pressure. He didn't really pay attention for a bit after that- until all the chairs were filled.

"Now, in twos, press your desks together with the person next to you," Mr. Saïx ordered. Demyx looked to his right, finding the desk empty, surprisingly. Somehow, the empty chair seemed to give off an aura of _warning_. Demyx ignored it, though. How could a _chair_ be evil, after all? "This person will be your partner for projects, and will also edit your essays. If the space that you share is devoid of one person, the person there will simply work with another partner-less student. Is that clear?" There were murmurs through the class, and it was obvious no one had a problem with this. With a smirk, the man continued. "Now, I want you all to partner up and talk to your partner for a bit. After ten minutes of one person talking, you will switch and the other person will talk. I want you to write a short autobiography of the person before the end of the period. The person who writes the best essay will receive five extra credit points." The classroom door slid open.

"Sorry I'm late." Murmurs went through the class as Zexion, of all people, came in _late_. Well, it wasn't that it was _Zexion_. It was that it was a _Hybrid_ that really struck them.

It was just one more thing that separated them.

"Mr. Kisaragi; how good of you to join us. I take it you found the class well enough." He was teasing him. Guess he wasn't a Hybrid after all.

Zexion flinched, face hardening. It was then that Demyx noticed that he had been flushed when he first arrived, cheeks rosy from a run, soaked through from the rain. He dripped onto the floor, a plastic bag covering his backpack, rainwater running off of it in small droplets. "Yes, I did."

This prompted a sarcastic smile. "Good- then please take your seat next to Mr. Mizuchi. It will be your seat for the next two months." Then, all eyes were on us; even human ones. It appeared the rumors had yet to fade. Their gazes followed the small Nekojin as he hesitated, then settled in the seat next to the taller boy. Though Mr. Saïx called them all to attention, the eyes seemed to linger on the two as class began, until at last the class stay focused on the lesson without the wandering eyes. Mr. Saïx then dismissed them to do their work.

"So what are we doing?" Zexion asked, turning slightly in his seat to face his partner. Demyx sighed, filling him in.

When they were halfway through the project, the storm seemed to pick up. Lightning struck closer and closer to the school, and, eventually, one hit the tree in the courtyard outside the window. Demyx's grip tightened on his chair as all the students looked outside, seeking the source of light that had suddenly appeared beyond the glass. Some panicked; some simply stared; some glanced from the fire to the sprinklers above their heads, wondering if a fire in the courtyard would set them off. Thankfully, they remained off.

Then there was another flash of lightning, and the lights flickered off, sending the class into a panic. There was another flash of light and Demyx's hands slipped from their hold on his chair, reaching for the first thing in reach. Zexion's hand was cold and wet, slightly pruned from his run to school. The Nekojin winced, the older boy's grip on his hand painfully tight. He almost spoke up, said something about it, but held himself when he looked over to him, taking in the blonde's form.

Demyx shivered, though Zexion should have been the one to do so, flinching with every flash of light, hand gripping his with sharp pulses every time the thunder graced their ears. Time seemed to freeze in that moment for the Nekojin. The boy's eyes were clenched shut, and his other hand seemed to go white against the chair. Lighting once again flashed in the courtyard, and a small whimper escaped his lips. And so, Zexion did the only thing he could.

Wrapping his fingers around the blonde's, he gave a small squeeze of reassurance. Demyx looked up at him, then to their hands, intertwined.

The window of time, frozen, separate from change, began once again to close. The blonde slipped his hand from Zexion's, whispering a small "sorry" before burying his face, his ashen face, in his arms. And, in that small time in which the window was closing, Zexion felt lost. Either Demyx was prideful- didn't want anyone to see him like this- or he just didn't want comfort. But Demyx was the kind of guy who would _seek out_ comfort. It didn't make sense…

Unless he just didn't want it from Zexion.

The world came to life, then. Everyone was leaving the room, evacuating from the school. Zexion looked to the teacher, who was placing his cell-phone in his pocket.

"Mr. Saïx, what-" The Nekojin began, looking to the teacher in question.

"The cording on the roof got hit by lightning," the blue-haired man explained; a shade not unlike his own. "The generator may be underground, but the cording on the roof transfers it all over the school." Looking from Zexion, he glanced over to Demyx. "Mr. Mizuchi- would you be kind enough to give a few Hybrids a ride home? School busses won't be here for a while, now."

"Huh?" Demyx asked, looking up. His face was pale, and his jaw twitched every other second. "Oh- sure. No problem."

Zexion glanced up at the boy, eyes wide. "You have a car?"

...

The roads were treacherous that day. Water coating the streets made it hard for the new driver to concentrate on the route.

"You take a left here," Kairi supplied, leaning forward from the backseat to point to the right. While most would find this obsessive, Demyx liked the fact that she was pointing. He didn't really feel 'all-there'. From her place in the back seat, Naminé sighed, tugging the girl back.

"Careful. Don't be up there for _too_ long," she said. It was apparently her first time in a vehicle other than a school bus.

Sora leaned against his window (he was sitting in the front) and looked out at the rain. "How long have you been driving, Demyx?" he asked.

"Not long," the blonde admitted. "I'm not actually supposed to have passengers in the car, yet, but I think that _this_-" he inclined his head toward his window, "-counts as an exception."

Sora laughed. "Sure does!"

"Go for two blocks and keep going," Kairi advised. "We're the third house on the left; the white one."

"Okay- thanks."

Naminé laughed. "We should be thanking you."

"Why are you going so slow?" a fifth voice piped up. Three sets of eyes turned to the Nekojin, whose own were trained on the road through his small back window. The air went from light to tense in that one moment, choking the car's passengers.

"I don't want to hydroplane, that's why," Demyx explained, pulling off in front of the girl's house. They got out, then, waving goodbye, making their way through the rain and into the small two-story. "Don't exactly feel like crashing today."

...

"What would be good for a birthday present?"

"_I don't know. She doesn't like it when people spend money on her._"

"Really? Then should I give her something home-made? What about a photo?"

"_She doesn't have any pictures in her room, so I don't think that's a good idea._"

"Well I can't show up without a gift- I haven't know her long enough to do that!"

"_Then how about a kiss?_"

"What did you say?"

...

"Is Zexion home?"

April eighteenth had arrived at last, though one didn't put it past Demyx to stop it from coming at all. Kairi was jumping all over the place, and Naminé was... Naminé. Helen had answered the door with a smile, though she directed a special smirk towards Demyx that seemed to accuse him of doing dirty things- the kind of smirk that said she encouraged these _things_- the kind of smirk that said she knew things he didn't want others to know.

Of course, he didn't really get it, either.

"C'mon in girls, Demyx!" she exclaimed, beaming, waving them into the house. "He's just upstairs, so I-" a long beep came from the kitchen and she jumped up in shock. "The cookies!" she panicked. Rushing into the kitchen, she called back to them, "Demyx; go get Zexion for me, would you? It's the second door on the left!"

"I know," he called back, making his way up the stairs, almost leisurely. "May I use your bathroom?"

"Go ahead!" was the reply. Tromping up those last few steps, he finally made his way into the bathroom- first door on the right. He smirked.

The walls were yellow, but the tiles were brown. What was with these people?

Returning from the bathroom, Demyx made his way down the multi-colored walls that were Zexion's second floor. The dim lighting cast meager shadows on either side, almost as if it were casting a spell of romance over him. With a sigh, he traced a finger over one of the walls- blue. It had once been lavender. This new color was almost the exact shade of Zexion's fur- a dull mix of campaign grey and blue. So calm and soothing...

Brushing the thought aside, he made his way down the hall- second door on the left- and pushed Zexion's door open, only to be met with a shout.

"Hey- I'm changing, here!" Demyx's eyes, merely half-open from a night spent hanging pictures on his wall, flew open to gaze into liquid pools of Mako Blue just before the boy turned away. "Don't look, you pervert," Zexion muttered, face flushing, hiding beneath a blanket he hastily acquired from his bed.

Heaving a sigh of exasperation, Demyx shrugged. "So what? We're both guys- nothing I haven't seen before. And it's not like I'm staring at you." Of course, _that_ was a lie. However, Zexion didn't need to know how his eyes almost _ravaged_ his form, taking in everything from his flat stomach to his thin, fragile-looking neck. Though at first glance he left the impression that you'd break him if you touched him too hard, upon closer observation there was a line of muscle through his entire body, hard as iron, though his form was lithe and slender. His limbs had an almost anorexic look they were so thin, and his hips were wider than that of what a man's usually was. He figure was feminine, small, and he had curves where boys usually didn't have them. Demyx's fingers itched to reach for his camera- just a quick shot; the flash off, while Zexion wasn't looking- but restrained himself. The blanket the Nekojin held against himself was small- a baby-blanket- and didn't cover any of this. The only thing that really obstructed his view was a pair of loose-fitting boxers that fit snugly at the widest part of his hips, fitted to stop just below his tail.

At that moment the blonde didn't know whether or not he wanted them there. Whether he wanted to see him like this… or whether he wanted to see him without any covering at all. No blanket; no boxers. Shaking the thought from his head, he fixed his gaze on the window. He knew what the response to this would be.

"Gender doesn't matter to us, Demyx. It was just some irrelevant restriction you humans put in place on each other to feel superior even over your own kind." There was a fire in his voice when he said this, and Demyx couldn't help but glance back at the boy, only to look away again.

"If that's true why are you undressing?"

This prompted a laugh from the younger boy. "Because I need to get dressed," he mused. "But watch if you want Mr. We're-Both-Boys. It's not like you care. After all; it's nothing you haven't seen before."

It was true. He saw what Zexion had every morning in the shower. He shouldn't care- really shouldn't. This was a fifteen year old- well, sixteen, now- he was talking to. A _boy_. Human boys didn't have relationships beyond friendship. Well- they weren't _supposed_ to. He knew that a few of the boy's at his school were, fell, _flipsy_, but he wasn't like that. Not at all. He shouldn't really care about the way Zexion bent down to reach into his dresser left his skin, his perfectly smooth porcelain skin, to define every bump in his spine before his eyes. About the way his muscles seemed to almost ripple with the movements he made, completely nude, searching around his drawer. How his a-

Demyx turned away, his face a deep red at the thoughts that ran through his mind. He didn't care what anyone said- what he _himself_ had said. Zexion wasn't just a guy. He was _Zexion_. Everything, anything, he had was _nothing_ he'd ever seen before. The proof was the image burned into his retinas, almost as if he had a photographic memory.

"Happy birthday," he murmured, not having the bravery to look the boy in the eyes. Zexion glanced up, then, looking to the boy in shock.

"What did you say?"

...

"Happy sweet sixteen, Zexion!" Kairi shouted as soon as the boy descended the stairs, pulling out a handful of confetti and tossing it into the air. The boy stared at her for a bit, then mumbled something and made his way back up the stairs. Demyx stopped him, grabbing a hold of the boy's shoulders and gently pushing him down the stairs. His hands burned where he touched the younger boy, but he ignored it. Once down the stairs, he pulled a note card from his pocket. Scanning over the words, he glanced to Naminé, then to Kairi who was trying to convince Zexion to watching movies with them in order to celebrate his birthday. Naminé could have asked for something worse for her and her sister's birthday present. It could have involved physical labor (like moving Naminé's bed into Kairi's room, since their parents wouldn't let them), which he would _not_ have looked forward to.

And he couldn't deny that he was partially looking forward to this.

Tugging on the smaller boy's arm, Demyx almost put the plan in motion before Helen walked in. "Hybrid cookies, everyone!" she called, glancing from person to person. "Well, sit down!" she ordered, flamboyant as ever. "I will not have my son waste his sweet sixteen just talking on a stairway," she mused, nudging us towards the bean-bags in the living room. Setting the cookies on a side-table, she left for the kitchen, leaving Demyx to turn the TV on. "What's first?" he asked, turning to the girls. They shared a bean-bag, which was good cause there were only three total. If they hadn't he'd have had to share with Zexion- which wouldn't lead to anything good.

"We were thinking of starting with 'Nobodies'," Naminé mused, opening the bag she had brought with her. Inside was nothing more than a spare set of clothes and three movies: 'Heartless', 'Nobodies', and 'Emblems'. It was a series she was slightly obsessed with- the 'Kingdom' series. Mainly about this one guy- Demyx couldn't remember his name- going around defeating these creatures that threatened to take over the worlds that created their universe. It was kind of like a sci-fi fantasy, and was really popular with Hybrids. They wound up starting with the first movie, though; Heartless.

They were half-way through the first movie when Zexion's dad left for work- it was almost three in the afternoon. Naminé, Kairi and Zexion happily munched away at the cookies, not allowing Demyx to touch them. "They don't taste good to humans," they said, but from the way they seemed to grimace upon taking a bite it seemed they didn't taste all great to them, either. When he asked about this, Kairi responded "They're addicting."

By the end of the first movie the plate of cookies had almost been demolished, and by the end of the second movie everyone was starting to get slightly loopy- but from what Demyx did not understand. His mind was unusually clear, for once. Clear enough to get suspicious of the slight glow of the cookies, but not clear enough to really comprehend the situation. The time for his present for Kairi was approaching quickly, but his mind wasn't on that- or the movie.

His mind was on how Zexion's tail would lightly flick at every death scene- and since they were watching 'Nobodies' that was a lot. How his skin seemed to almost reflect the screen in it's ethereal pale complexion- a perfect, milky white. The boy could put paper to shame. He wore his hat, but Demyx could see it slightly move during a battle scene; how it would _shiver_ during all the exciting moments and two points would be very prominent when there was any form of suspense. He would sit up straight in his beanbag, staring intently at the screen in hopes of catching something he hadn't before in the many times they had watching this movie. He was just like a little boy they way he would jump at any surprising part, which Demyx didn't really get. It seemed like every time Zexion watched the movie it seemed so new to him. Tears would occasionally bring themselves to his face, but he would hastily wipe them away and continue staring at the screen.

Then a clock chimed six down the hall, prompting Demyx to realize his mission.

Angling himself, he reached deep into a pocket, finding nothing. He frowned, reaching into the other pocket, only to find nothing. Standing up, he looked down at the bean-bag to search it. There it was- a crumpled note card. Thankfully no one had noticed his standing up; too engrossed in the movie to really care. His brain seemed to freeze at that moment. On the card was a list of 'approximate times' when the present would be good to deliver. 'Bringing Zexion downstairs, parents having alone time, Helen making another batch of cookies, after Helen and Dad are out at work'... the list went on. At the bottom of the card were three very specific requirements, though. "Dad at work", "Helen not around", and "Zexion loopy/tired".

He still couldn't believe how Naminé had roped him into this. The girl could be persuasive.

But hey- it was better than physical labor, so he couldn't really complain. He didn't run with the Hybrids just because they were his friends, after all.

"I'm going out," Helen called from the doorway. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Okay, Helen," the three Hybrids called after her, chuckling as Demyx snuck the last cookie. He grimaced; it _was_ bad. He finished it anyways. A few minutes later he went to put the last movie in the player just as the movie came to a close. Looking back to Naminé, he locked eyes with the girl, receiving a nod. Her blue eyes were unusually lit with what appeared to be an inner glow, but in his moment of panic he couldn't really comprehend what that meant.

Palms sweating, the blonde slowly made his way towards Zexion, apprehensive. There was no telling how many things could go wrong. His mom or dad could walk right back in- coming home or just forgetting something- or he could push him away. But he was going through with this. They had a deal, after all.

Naminé nudged Kairi, whispering something in her ear before pointing to the two boys. Wanting any form of delay, and wishing not to betray his nerves to the smaller boy, Demyx leaned forward to whisper, "Let's put on a show, shall we?" into Zexion's ear. Darkness had begun to fall, and for that Demyx was grateful as it hid his blush. There were almost no light to show anything; only the lights from the stairwell that seemed to add to the effect that what he was going to do was important. In a way it was, and in a way it wasn't.

"What did you s-" Zexion began, but was cut off by a pair of lips against his own. Twin gasps were heard across the room at this as he slowly angled his face into Zexion's. They hadn't warned the Nekojin before hand because they knew he wouldn't agree to it- that's why they needed him loopy. Demyx clenched his eyes shut, moving his lips against the younger boy's, hoping he would catch on. He was much smarter than him, after all. He should have caught on to what was going on- played along with it. Naminé had said he was more accepting after he got some sugar into him, but there was no response from the boy. He wasn't eager to receive anything like encouragement- the younger boy's lips against his felt completely wrong, like they weren't supposed to be there- but he needed it. Cradling the boy's cheek with his hand, Demyx really hoped he could get him going. Otherwise the deal wouldn't go through.

Then, there it was. A subtle movement on the lips as Zexion seemed to catch on, spurring Demyx into glee. It was working! He pressed the younger boy into the bean bag as the Nekojin started grasping at his clothes. Hand almost painfully tight against the boy's collar, Zexion almost gasped at the sensation of Demyx's mouth on his. It had been their first kiss since December, and his body seemed to come alive at the touch of the older boy. Gently, oh so gently, a tongue pried at his lips, eager to get in. A fog covered his mind- Naminé and Kairi were now forgotten- and he opened his mouth wide, battling the tongue with his own. Then, the older boy seemed to hesitate. Demyx's brain, once crystal clear, melted under the feel of Zexion's tongue against his, fighting his. His movements slowed, leisurely moving against Zexion's in something he could only describe as affection. He nibbled on the smaller boy's lip, feeling his leg stretch under the unusual position. Breaking the kiss, though reluctantly, he adjusted it. Zexion smirked. "Not very flexible, are we?"

Demyx blushed. "Shut it," he grumbled, attaching his lips once more to the Nekojin's. He felt a slight pressure against his arm, and glanced over to see the boy's tail lightly flick against it, almost as if in a pattern. Maybe there was. And like any curious little boy, he experimented. He soon figured that if he simply butted his tongue against Zexion's his tail would stay as it was, and if he lightly lapped at the underside the long, furry appendage would slowly flick against his arm and, if he did it long enough, completely wrap around it, tugging him closer.

That's when Demyx got brave.

Bringing his hand around to the boy's back, he lightly trailed a finger down his spine, tracing a smooth line from the base of his neck to where the Nekojin's tail met the skin of his back. The boy shuddered, then; lips breaking from Demyx's in order to gasp out his name. A thin line of saliva connected them, and though it broke the fog was not lifted. Zexion attacked his lips, then, pressing hand against him; forcing him to the floor. A sharp pain raked through his head, then, clearing a lot of the fog; making him aware of their surroundings.

A camera was going off repeatedly, flash blinding him as soon as he got away from Zexion. Naminé had been taking pictures with his camera- when had it fallen out of his pocket?- and, by the looks of it, she and Kairi had enjoyed their present.

Present.

A wave of guilt came of Demyx at that moment. He really should have told Zexion what this was for. Turning to Naminé, he was about to tell her to talk to him, then get her to forget about the deal, but Kairi was tugging her off in the direction of the door. "Let's go home," she said, almost urgent. Demyx could feel another fog working his brain over, then.

"Do you want a ride?" he asked, looking from girl to girl- ignoring his newly formed headache, forcing his eyelids to stay open.

"Nah- you look tired," Naminé mused. She seemed to understand not to say anything. The deal had been that if he kissed Zexion she would get the other's to leave them alone, but at this rate all their suspicions were probably going to come true.

It wasn't long before Naminé and Kairi had left, leaving the boy's to prepare for bed. Things were awkward, to say the least. Silent.

After a while, Zexion spoke up. "Look, I'm sorry, but I already like someone," he said. He sounded almost... regretful?

"Oh," was all Demyx could manage, eyes trained on the wall. He was drowsy beyond anything he could ever imagine possible. Turning to face Zexion, to take in the way moonlight filtered through the curtains to play out along his skin, he suppressed an urge to kiss the boy's shoulder, his arms; to reach over and stroke from the base of his neck down to the tail that pressed ever-so-lightly against his leg. To splay his hands across every inch of the Nekojin's body. He'd never had these urges for anyone before- not even a girl. Maybe he wasn't attracted to girls- but he wasn't attracted to boys, either.

He was only attracted to Zexion.

"I mean, no offense to you, but you got here a little late," Zexion mused, refusing to look at Demyx no matter how the boy tugged on his shoulder to turn and face him. "Stop that."

"Not until you say this to my face," the blonde stubbornly announced, the fog on his mind leaving him belligerent for some unknown reason.

"Fine," the Nekojin ground out, turning to face him. Gone was the feel of a tail on his leg. Instead he was graced with a view of a nearly ecstatic face. That expression seemed so familiar... "Is this good?"

"Yeah," Demyx mused. He tried to remember when he'd seen that expression on the boy's face before. He knew he'd seen him that happy, once. Just once. But when? "So who is it?" he asked, slightly jealous. Through the fog his mind was racing. Through all the times he'd seen Zexion when had he looked this happy?

"Like I'm going to tell you!" the boy laughed. Then it occurred to him. The mystery photo- Larxene's birthday party. That thing that didn't belong was-

"Marluxia."

Silence. Zexion's face flushed, and he buried his face in his pillow. "H- how'd you know?" he asked, hand clenching in the case.

"Lucky guess," Demyx lied, eyes trained on the ceiling.

...

_"Dr. Crescent says he'll be out for a week, minimum." _The voice seemed to be coming from far off, though Demyx could see Helen talking to Zexion at the end of his bed.

_"What will we tell the Mizuchi's?"_ the Nekojin inquired, eyes wide in panic. _"We can't tell an outsider the truth- you know it wouldn't end well."_

Helen's eyes flashed as her hand whipped around to swat her son- Demyx bet he could have heard that smack if he were deaf- who clenched his head in pain. _"I know that, Zexion, and if you had watched where the snacks were going this wouldn't be a problem!"_ she shouted, hand poised at her side, clenching her skirt. In that moment the blonde took back anything nice he had ever though about the woman. Everything about her, from the way she stood to how she talked, screamed 'hostility' unlike anything Demyx had ever seen from her. He wanted nothing more than to shoot up and help Zexion, but found himself unable to move. Helen threw him a dirty look, then turned back to her son. _"This will delay Marluxia's plans by who knows _how_ long... We were going to depend on him to get a few things for us."_

Zexion's eyes flew open. _"They want him in?" _The woman turned, then left the room, not bothering to give her son a reply. Zexion sighed, then, leaving and returning with a chair, propping it next to Demyx's bed- which he then realized was Zexion's. _"She's really not that bad, you know,"_ the Nekojin mused. Although he was right next to him his voice seemed to come from a different place: far away, across the room, from behind him... everywhere. There seemed to be nothing to say, though, and Demyx's vision slowly went black.

...

_"-don't really know if your listening, but I want you to know whatever came over us on Sunday will _not_ be happening again."_ Demyx slowly faded in on the words, but got their meaning, none-the-less. He idly wondered how much time had passed. He really couldn't tell.

Oh well.

Not like he wasn't going to find out eventually. For now, though, he couldn't really move so getting up to check a calendar was pretty much out of the question.

...

Light filtered in through the curtains- and the clock read three in the afternoon. Reaching up to run a hand through his hair, Demyx grimaced when he was met with greasy, unkempt locks. Rising from Zexion's bed, he made his way to the bathroom, shedding his clothes in a pile on the tile floor. Stepping into the heated spray, he then realized that he could move.

Delayed reaction, much.

First thing was first, though. _Shower_. 'Lather, rinse, and repeat about five times until you know you're hair's clean' sounded about right for that moment, so he did. Moving onto the rest of his body, he looked down, only to spy... His eyes widened. Throwing open the shower curtain, he came eye to eye with nothing short of pure Mako Blue.

"Can I help you?" the Nekojin asked.

Ignoring the sudden materialization of the boy, Demyx decided instead to get to the chase. "Did you guys pierce my bellybutton?"

Much to Demyx's surprise, Zexion climbed right into the shower with him, completely void of any clothing, and began to wash his hair. "Yes."

"What happened to 'gender doesn't matter'?"

"What happened to 'It's nothing I haven't seen before'?" Turning away from Demyx, he continued. "It's called a Navi- why do you think you can move after only two days?"

"Does that mean it's Tuesday?"

"Yes- it's Tuesday." After rinsing his hair, the boy began working his ears and tail into a later, which really threw Demyx for a loop. He'd never imagined they had to _wash_ their tails. But, then again, there might be some Hybrids out there who were considered greasy for _not_ washing their tails, like Humans were with hair... or maybe he was just desperate to find similarities between the two species. "Anyways, we couldn't decide whether or not to give you a hat or something to wear, but your parents would notice if you came home wearing a hat since, honestly, I've never seen you wear one."

"What about a wristband?" Demyx suggested, reaching forward to wash Zexion's back. He wore wristbands often enough.

The Nekojin shrugged. "We don't have any wristbands that are strong enough for a human condition. The strongest things we have are hats, custom pants, and piercings. The pants wouldn't fit you and you don't wear hats so a piercing was the last possible choice."

"So these 'Navi' things are mass-produced?" Demyx mused to himself, turning around so the smaller boy could wash his back in return. "Is this 'Navi' thing really that important?"

"You kidding?" Zexion smirked, fixated on his task. "Pretty much everyone at school has one. 'Navi' is short for 'Navigator'. It draws the toxins in Mako from your body. My dad circulates Mako all through this city. The only ones who don't take it, as far as we know, are Naminé, Kairi, and Larxene."

Demyx went stiff at this. Eyes wide, he spun around to face the smaller boy. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, hands grasping the boy's shoulders.

"We need your help."

"You mean _Marluxia_ needs my help."

"In a way, yes."

"What's he planning." Silence. "Well?"

"I'm not at leave to tell you. I've already said too much."

Figuring that was all he could get out of the boy, Demyx resumed with his shower, occasionally dodging between the boy and the wall to get to the spray. Then, without much warning, Zexion reached forward and lightly fingered Demyx's piercing. His eyes flickered from Mako Blue to their usual yellow and purple, and in that moment his skin seemed to almost glow with an ethereal life. On a spur of the moment, Demyx lunged forward, smashing his lips sharply against the Nekojin's, pressing him against the wall without giving him a chance to respond. Hefting the boy's thighs up in his hands, he lifted him into the air for better access, plastering the fronts of their bodies together. He really didn't understand what came over him in that moment, but whatever it was he liked. His body was on fire; his blood burning holes in his veins. The hands on his shoulders seemed to fuel the urge- until they started to push him away.

Then they were ice.

Stepping away, Demyx apologized... but the damage was done.

...

**Next post: January 18th, 2010**

**End notes: I am **_**so sorry**_**! This chapter just did **_**not**_** want to be written. At all. Ever. It was fighting me every step of the way. So, yeah. Lots or foreshadowing in this chapter, and a **_**lot**_** of fanservice. Poor Demyx, getting pushed away... but, yeah. And the movies- 'Heartless', 'Nobodies', and 'Emblems' of the 'Kingdom' series? Yeah; I couldn't resist. Those are the three enemies you fight in the game, after all! I put them in the order in which you discover them in the game sequence. Sorry, once again, for the lateness, though! Here's a preview for the next chapter!**

_"Mom, Dad, Demyx... I'm pregnant."_

**And that's **_**all**_** you're getting. Yeah. I'm cruel. You can probably tell who it is, though. Yeah- it's pretty obvious. Who do you guys think is pregnant and who do you think is the father?**

**With love,**

**Besieged Infection**


	6. to May of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard disclaimer applies.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Ayden Silverflame. Happy birthday, Aya-chan!**

...

Chapter six: May of 2010

...

The Exception Laws VI

Heavy machinery is under no circumstances to be operated by a Hybrid.

...

It was May first, and Larxene had taken the time to gather everyone in the family room to talk about... something. She paced back and forth across the living room, shifting nervously from foot to foot. Brushing a lock of blonde hair back from her face, she pushed it back into place, allowing Demyx an unobstructed view of her face. She could have put paper to shame, then.

Sometimes she'd turn to them, open her mouth, then think better of it and keep pacing. Sometimes she's stare at the door, and stare at it for a while, and every time one of us would get up she'd say "Please," and we'd sit back down. What could be on her mind? She was only thirteen- and it was doubtful that she was into drugs.

He looked over to his father, Luxord. Demyx really was the spitting image of him, though his hair was starting to darken to a light brown opposed to him father's bright gold. Luxord was nearly six feet tall... but these were things Demyx already knew. Just barely, though. His father was rarely home due to business meetings and such.

Demyx had once prided himself on how perfect his family was. A Mom, Dad, and a younger sister. The older brother was the nice guy, or so he liked the think, the younger sister was unusually mature, the Dad worked a desk job for the government, though he took too long in the bathroom, and the Mom was a stay at home mother who spent a lot of her time sewing, cooking, and cleaning. The picture-perfect family.

Something told him something would change that, today.

Then there came a knock at the door and she jumped to open it. "You're late," she gasped, pushing Marluxia into the room. Demyx noted as his father's eyes widened, then narrowed at the boy.

"I know- I'm sorry," Marluxia said, looking the part. He still wore his work gloves, and a rose petal stuck out of his hair. Larxene pointed this out with a smile, as she couldn't reach it.

She then sobered, shoving him into the couch, then turning to face her family. She opened her mouth, then hesitated again. Sitting hurriedly onto the couch, she laced her fingers with Marluxia's. No one missed when the man slowly ran his thumb along the side of her hand and she visibly relaxed. Looking directly into her parents eyes, she announced, "Mom, Dad, Demyx... I'm pregnant." Marluxia turned beet red at this, looking to the side.

"It sounds so horrible when you say it like that..." he mused, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, as if he looked anywhere other than the wall or the floor he surely would have met a pair. Larxene shot him a look, then looked back to the others.

A corner of the frame broke off, but it wasn't serious.

"Marluxia is the father," she said, motioning to the man with her free hand. That's when it occurred to Demyx that he knew Marluxia loved her, but did she love him?

"_What_?" their father hissed, fixing his daughter with a look that could have broken glass. All eyes were on him, then.

His look did break glass- a small part of the frame's glass, off to the side. The picture was still there, but you couldn't see the whole thing.

"Luxord, don't-" Xion began, looking from her husband to their daughter.

"Don't what? Worry that my daughter is _pregnant_?" he interrupted. "She's only thirteen!" he yelled.

"What you're doing isn't worrying- it's blowing up!" Xion remarked, face twisted into a grimace.

He ignored this, turning his blue eyes on Larxene. He fixed her with another look. "What were you _thinking_? He's, what, five years older than you?"

A small part of the frame split open, revealing a part of the picture that didn't show behind the wood.

"Seven," Marluxia corrected, rising up to look the man in the eye. "And why don't you go a little easier on her? She 'just thirteen', as you put it. She shouldn't be dealing with things like this."

"Well if she isn't ready for this she shouldn't be ready for sex!" Luxord shouted.

Xion jumped between them. "Luxord-"

"She needs to hear this!" he shouted, pushing his wife aside. Demyx watched this all from his seat on the couch, eyes wide as he watched those words that never should have been said take form. "We took you in," Luxord began. "We took you in from that orphanage and all I wanted was for you to follow the guidelines I set in place. That was _all_ I wanted." Larxene seemed to sink into her seat, then. "After all we've done, you just go and get yourself _pregnant_?"

The glass slit open, falling from the frame.

"Honey, that's enough," Xion managed. Demyx tore his eyes from his father, then, as they began to shout at each other. Shouldn't she be at least a little upset with Larxene? She was always talking about how she didn't want grandchildren any time soon, if at all. And here she was- in her mid-thirties with a grandchild on the way. Shouldn't she at least be a little disappointed? Demyx looked up at his father, staring down at his wife, expression murderous.

Staring down at the floor, Demyx clutched his head in both hands, willing the fighting to stop.

But it just wouldn't. They just kept fighting and fighting. Yelling escalating as Marluxia held Larxene in his arms, letting her quietly sob into his chest. Larxene never cried.

Never.

The frame fell to splinters, leaving the picture all alone.

"How can you be so calm, Xion? Larxene is making the biggest mistake of her life! She probably won't be able to sustain the baby!" It wasn't even 'our daughter' any more. It was 'Larxene'. Just 'Larxene'. "I want her out of this house."

The photo ripped in half, taking Larxene successfully from the picture, along with a part of Demyx's smiling face.

Xion's eyes narrowed until they were nearly slits. "Yeah, well, me being here is proof that I've made worse decisions than her. Want _me_ to leave?"

Demyx stood up, putting his back to his family, his movements going unnoticed. Tugging his camera from his pocket, he snapped a picture of all of them, just in time.

His mental photo of them all burst into flames, leaving only charcoal.

Looking at their new picture in the viewing screen, Demyx saw their family photos for what is was.

Something fake.

That's when he spied it on his sister's wrist. A small, yellow wristband.

He wondered how long it'd been there.

That's about when the world dropped out beneath his feet for sure.

...

May third dawned bright, early, and joyous for those who cared. For those who just wanted things to rewind the sunlight could just go to hell. It could take the chirping baby birds and blooming flowers with it.

Heaving a sigh, Demyx walked down the driveway to his car- his beat up blue truck, really. He couldn't fathom how Naminé, Kairi, and Zexion had all fit in the almost non-existent back seats.

That's when it hit him.

Zexion.

"Oh god..." Demyx groaned, leaning against the car and sliding down to the pavement. At this point he couldn't tell if he was supporting his sister because he loved her of because he wanted Zexion for himself. Slamming his head into the side of the car, he tried to fully wake himself.

"Demyx," someone called, causing him to look towards the front door, where Xion held his backpack hostage. "Don't forget your stuff," she said quietly, walking over to him.

He quickly jumped to his feet, embarrassed as to have fallen into a depressing against his _car_ of all things. "Thanks, Mom," he said, taking the bag and leaving a small peck on her cheek. Her eyes were swollen and slightly bloodshot, betraying her disturbance. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me, honey? Anything at all?" she asked, eyes almost begging. Her posture proud, despite what her eyes said, and her hair was perfectly brushed. The perfect house-wife, as always. Only her eyes said otherwise. "I'm your mother- you know I'll accept you, honey."

Demyx couldn't help the words that slipped from him, then. "Like Dad accepted Larxene?" he said, words filled with contempt. Both their eyes widened with surprise as he said this.

"Demyx-"

"I'm sorry, just..." Demyx paused, hand fitting into the car door to fling it open. He moved to get in, then paused. "Just give me some time to sort things out, okay?"

He knew Xion didn't deserve everything that was happening when she stepped back, whispering a small "Okay," before waving him off. He knew he shouldn't be the one in turmoil, but he was.

Would his dad blow up like that if he found out he was attracted to Zexion?

He drove off, but not before giving his house's front door a glance. There- a nail, and a stain in the middle of the door where the wood was just a shade darker than the rest in the shape of a star. It _used_ to have Larxene's name on it. Now...

Demyx really didn't know.

...

The music room was empty sans the presence of a small blonde boy playing piano as Demyx walked in. He looked to be a sophomore- maybe a senior. Taking a seat next to him on the stool, Demyx watched the boy's fingers trail across the keys.

"You need to talk?"

Demyx laughed. "How'd you know? You get this a lot?"

"No," the boy replied, the tune not faltering a bit. The guy had practice, but Demyx didn't know the first thing about piano so he couldn't tell if he was good or not. He glanced over with a grin. "It's just that your face screams 'my world has collapsed and I can't tell anyone'."

Demyx grimaced. "That bad, huh?" The song stopped and a hand was offered.

"Roxas," the boy said.

He grinned, taking the offered hand. "Demyx," he replied, noting the spark in Roxas' eyes at the name.

"So _you're_ Demyx," he said. Looking down at the keys, then up to him, he opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated. He looked just like Larxene. In that moment, everything that happened seemed to come back. "You can tell me, you know," Roxas said, sliding his hands lightly across the keys. "I've been told that I'm a good listener.

There was movement in the corner of Demyx's eyes, a flash of periwinkle blue, and he looked over to the choir room's door to see... nothing. He sighed. Just imagining things. "My sister's pregnant," he admitted.

"And that's bad because..." Roxas trailed off, waiting for him to fill things in.

"She's thirteen."

"Oh."

Demyx sighed, resting his forehead against the piano's front. "Dad threw her out, and Mom doesn't seem to be taking it well, and I..." He sighed. "I just don't know _what_ to think any more."

There was a pause. "Are you supporting her?" the boy asked, voice somewhat... hopeful.

"Of course I am!" Demyx exclaimed, gaze shooting to lock with the older boy's. "She's my sister, even _if_ she's just adopted. Doesn't matter that she's a Hybrid or anything like that. She's my sister and that's the end of it."

There was no silence, this time. "Your sister's a Hybrid?" he asked. "Did your parents know when they adopted her?"

"Yeah- they knew. Mom's this Hybrid-right activist and Dad just did it to boost his political image. He thought that taking in a poor orphaned Hybrid girl would be a good thing in the public eye. That he was fair and what-not." He sighed. "Mom told me that last night. Before this the story was that they didn't know, but they kept her anyways." Running his hands along the piano, Demyx thought back to when his Mom told him this. He didn't really remember much, but he knew she wasn't really smiling right. A lot of people seemed to be smiling a lying smile these days.

Or maybe he just hadn't noticed before now.

"Then there's the problem that the guy I like is in love with my sister's Mate." This was met with laugher, earning the other boy a glare. "What's so funny?"

Roxas was literally bent in two, laughing for all he was worth. He had fallen off the piano bench, clutching his stomach as the chuckles left him shaking on the floor. "I- I don't mean to _laugh_," he managed between gasps for breath and breaks in the laughter.

"Sure doesn't look like that to _me_."

"But your family situation _sucks_!"

"I think I figured that out of my own, thanks."

...

The English class Demyx and Zexion shared could have gone better- anyone could have told you that. A silence passed between the two to span the entire class, and there were little to no words exchanged between the boys that could be described as anything close to friendly. Eyes from the rest of the class flicked between the boys, and Naminé actually came up to ask if they were okay. Demyx waved her off, but Zexion looked as if he was holding something in; anger, most likely. When they were assigned that month's project, they kept their eyes focused on the desk.

"So what are the plans? Where will we meet for the project? You're house?" Zexion ground out. Silence. "Your house it-"

"No!" Demyx interrupted, panic rising in his throat. If Zexion came to his house and saw... "I don't think my house is a very good idea."

"Why not?" Zexion asked, tone suspicious.

Fishing in his brain for ideas, Demyx weakly supplied, "Spring cleaning. Mom's getting really into it." This was met with silence. He tried to avoid lies, but this time he figured it would be alright.

"Okay," the Nekojin mused after a while. "Guess it's my house, again, then. Just stay the _hell_ away from the cookies." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "And me, too." Demyx's heart then dropped out of his throat and into his stomach, then, beating against his belly-button ring as a reminder to what he did. "How's Larxene?" He just about died at this.

"She's doing good," he managed. This lie fell from his lips easier than the last, though, and he found himself feeling just a little better when Zexion let a small smile slip into his features. He ignored the feeling of impending doom crouching in his chest where his heart should be. Instead, he just took in Zexion's smile. It seemed like the only real thing left at that point.

...

Near the beginning of lunch, Demyx found himself pulled aside by Naminé, a look of horror on her face. "What's up?" he asked.

"How far have you guy synced? Seriously- this is ridiculous!" she shouted.

Taken aback, Demyx look around the hall to see several people looking their way. "Could you say that, I don't know, a little quieter?" he asked. It was unusual for _Naminé_ to be loud.

"This is ridiculous," she said again, fixing him a look.

"Thank you," he sighed, lightly biting his lower lip. "Now _what's_ ridiculous?"

"You two- how you're completely stupid! Why aren't you together, yet? I can tell you like him, and I've gotten everyone that was on your case about it to just shut up and let you be, like I promised, so why are you suddenly so... _scared_ of each other?"

"Scared?" Demyx inquired, eyebrows raising at her choice of words.

"You guys have synced even more than Kairi and I have, which is saying a _lot_, and here you are practically _oozing_ fear, and _Zexion_ isn't any better with the way he seems to be screaming that he has absolutely _no_ control of what's hap-"

"What are you talking about?" he interrupted, confused. "Syncing? What on Earth is that?" She groaned, then walked off. Following close behind her, they slipped into an empty classroom. "Well?"

She took a seat, looking at him honestly. "Since December have you noticed anything about yourself changing?" she asked.

"Well, I'm two inches taller, now. 5' 8" or so, n-"

"That's," she cut him off, voice clipped and exact as she continued, "not what I'm talking about."

Taking a seat next to the girl, the boy looked at her oddly. "Then what?"

She sighed, looking from the desk to the walls- at anything she could look at until she finally got to him. Her eyes traced over him, then, taking him in. Straight nose, blue eyes, a Summer-tan still fading from his skin, and hair styled into... something she couldn't really explain in normal terms. It wasn't excessively eccentric compared to some of the hairstyles that took place around town, but it certainly wasn't one of the practical ones.

"We've been saying this to Zexion for a while, now, but he just won't listen," she began, dragging her eyes across the desk once more. "Your scents are starting to intertwine to a point where you start having... feelings for each other," she explained. "It's commonly known as syncing," she said, turning back to Demyx to see him- "It that a note card?"

"Just writing it down for future reference," he commented. "Keep going," he encouraged, looking her in the eye, then back to where his pen scratched against the card with fervor.

Naminé blinked, thrown for a slight loop. "O-okay," she mused. "I- I guess you could say that emotions start rising up. When it occurs with a human the Hybrid tends to show the results much later on because they're aware of it at first, then they become immune to it after a while. After that there are a few stages of-"

"Hold up!" Demyx gasped, pulling out another note card. After a few more seconds of scratching, he murmured, "Sorry- go on, please."

Naminé almost laughed. "Well, the thing is this-"

...

The day was the twenty-fourth of May, and it had been almost an entire month since he'd had the talk with Naminé, and Demyx found himself hanging up the last of the pictures he'd taken that month. Well, most of them, at least. He couldn't seem to bring himself to print out the new 'family photo'. And a few of the slightly older ones were missing, too. Grand total, only one was actually missing, and he almost thought for a second that he didn't print it out. However, his computer history told him he had, so it had to be around there somewhere. Scouring his room, didn't help, and neither did looking at all the photos he'd hung up. Outside it was pouring rain with almost no visibility. No thunder this time, though. No lightning.

Normally he'd be at Zexion's working on their English project, but they'd finished early and for that he couldn't be happier. He may like the boy, but there was only so much he could take. The lies slipped so easily from him, now, and he found then fearfully easy to keep up with. His Mom was on a Spring Cleaning buzz, Larxene was in an unusually good mood as of late, and his Dad was especially busy with work he hasn't been home, much. Larxene was not pregnant, Marluxia was not the father, and his sister had not been banished from the house for said offenses. Simple as that. There was still a six-sided star nailed to their house, you couldn't see a definite line from a distance where the wood was suddenly darker than the rest of the door, and he didn't doubt the love of his parents- or the fact that their whole marriage might be a sham built on Xion's ability to deal with things that are unusually fake for something she really doesn't want.

But then there was the truth.

From what she had told him, Xion didn't want kids in the beginning, and she definitely didn't want to adopt. When they had figured out she couldn't have children her husband decided to do so without her permission, and when she found out she decided to get back at him and push for a Hybrid, saying it would boost his popularity with that portion of the voting masses. He'd bought it, and she'd gotten her way.

Apparently she'd only married him to get a nose into political business.

Looking over the photos from the past, though, Demyx couldn't find any photo where she wasn't smiling with anything less than radiance of a thousand suns. She had always been a perfect mother- loving, caring, smart, and sensitive. She always seemed to know what to say and he really had no complaints. Had it all been a lie? Those many times she'd tucked them in as children and whispered that she loved them- had it all be fake?

Did she even love them?

Demyx shook the thought out of his head. She was his mother, and there was no way she didn't love them. His father he placed less confidence in, but his mother deserved his trust. Especially now.

Looking over the many photos, Demyx couldn't believe that the smiles his mother had in them were fake. Maybe some things that were fake didn't look like it.

And what of things that did? Were Marluxia's and Larxene's smiles really fake in that picture with Zexion or were they just unused to the action? He certainly didn't see Larxene smile a lot, and he didn't see Marluxia enough to know. Would a real smile from his mom be just as vibrant as before... or better than it already was?

With all these questions running through his head, Demyx couldn't help but wonder.

There was a knock at the door. "Demyx- you have a call!" his mother called pleasantly through the door, startling the blonde through his thoughts.

"Come in," he said, taping one last photo to the wall. She came in, then, offering him the phone.

"And Zexion just dropped by- said he wants to talk about English, or something like that." She had a sly look on her face, but Demyx felt his heat drop past his stomach and swim out somewhere near his intestines, jamming itself between two cords and allowing itself to slowly get crushed by the weight. "I'll send him up, so if you could tell Larxene I love her that would be great," she mused, leaving.

Eyes wide in shock, Demyx placed the phone against his ear. Maybe he hadn't noticed. "Hey, Larxene. How are you?"

"Great, actually," she said, sounding a lot better than she felt. "Can I ask you a favor, though?"

Demyx felt himself nodding, even though he knew she couldn't hear her. Catching himself, he managed a small "Yeah. What is it?" He imagined this was what the end of the world sounded like. Footsteps walking away from you to get the one that will reveal your lies and a loved one so psychologically far away from you on the other end of a phone call that you didn't want to end. Ever.

"Could you ask Dad to give his blessing? Marluxia and I, well... We... kind of want to get married. I tried asking Mom to do it, but she can't get him to agree. I figured, since you're on the best terms with him..."

Demyx's heart seemed to lighten a bit when she said that until he realized who was in the living room. "Sure. And where are you?"

"Marluxia's house, you dork. We're living together." There was some giggling, whispers, and a rustle of fabric on the other end of the line. "Well, I have to go," she said. She sounded slightly giddy. "Anything you have to say?"

Demyx smiled. "Mom sends her love, and I send my congratulations and..." he paused. "Since when do you take Mako?" There was a silence on the other end of the line. "Larxene?"

"I have to go," she said. There was a click, and the dial-tone beeped in his ear just as Zexion walked in. Soaked from head to toe, he was quite the sight to behold, and Demyx felt his self-restraint begin to wear. It seemed rather thin, these days, as was obvious. The way the boy's clothes clung to every curve, every hard angle of his body seemed to fully cement Demyx's firm hold of reality into a pile of nothingness that was his nerves. He tried to ignore the way the rainwater trailed down the boy's face, arms, and neck and, after a few seconds, he finally succeeded. "Hey, Zexion!" he greeted, plastering a smile on his face. "What brings you here?"

Leveling the boy with a glare, the Nekojin slammed the door shut behind him. "We need to talk."

As it was truly the end of the world, the blonde had the sense to break from his stupor.

"About what?" Demyx asked, playing stupid.

"Larxene's pregnant," Zexion spat. "With Marluxia's child, no less. On top of this, she's not living with you and there's no Hybrid sign on your door meaning she won't be for a while, now. When, may I ask, were you intending to tell me about this?"

Demyx looked away from him, tracing his eyes along his walls as ice trailed through his veins. It was a new feeling to him, rage. Foreign in every sense of the word. He'd expected fear, self-disgust, but not... not this. Keeping himself in check, he lowly whispered, "Look- I really don't think this is the place to-"

"This isn't the _place_?" Zexion gasped, incredulous. "You're kidding, right?"  
Grabbing his keys, Demyx walked past Zexion and towards the door. "I'll take you home- come on," he said, reaching for the knob.

Turning an obscene shade of red, the Nekojin fumed. "Demyx, you owe me an expla-"

"I don't owe you _anything_," Demyx snapped. That's when his layer of control broke through completely. "So if you could kindly shut it and leave me to my misery, like you _always_ do, I would be very grateful." This was met with silence, but he didn't care. He just carried right on. "You lead me on, then leave me hanging, so forgive me if I think that I don't owe you a _thing_ in return."

"Demyx-"

"Just shut it," the blonde snapped, hand shooting over to take a firm hold of the smaller boy's arm. In a normal situation Zexion could probably overpower him, but he was bordering on homicidal at the moment so he didn't really care. "Everything you do- _everything_- just manages to make me more miserable unless I feed you lies. And you know what?" He couldn't stop, now. "Here's the truth."

"Demyx, you-"

"No, Zexion," Demyx hissed. "Just shut it and listen."

"I-"

"My mom never went into a Spring Cleaning mood, Larxene was _not_ happy when I told you she was, Dad hasn't been extra busy with work lately because he's home even more than usual now that Larxene's gone! He threw her out, she's living with Marluxia, she's pregnant, they're mated, and the want to get married. Marluxia doesn't like you back, he will _never_ like you back, and you have absolutely _no_ chance with him _at all_. Ever. Happy with your answers? You're the one who wanted them in the first place to I'm _sorry_ if the truth hurts." It had all come out in one breath, and Demyx really didn't know how that all came out of him. The anger ebbed away bit-by-bit and he found himself feeling downright _horrible_ by the time the awkward silence settled in. He couldn't believe he'd just said that all the Zexion. Yelled it, really.

But the expression on Zexion's face was enough to leave him feeling even worse.

"Zexion, I- I should have said that. I-"

"Just take me home," he said, face twisting. He turned away, not allowing the blonde to see his face. Demyx knew he'd gone to far, then. Too far. "Just take me home."

In a split second decision, Demyx took hold of the boy's shoulders, spinning him into his chest. He was nearly eight inches taller than the Nekojin, now, and the boy came to just above his collarbone. Clenching his hands in the taller boy's shirt, Zexion pressed his face into Demyx's chest, tears lightly soaking his shirt. He tried to suppress his shivering- a combination of wet clothes and crying. The arms that wrapped around him were warm, and he found himself slowly melting into the form in front of him.

"I'm sorry," Demyx whispered, resting his cheek against the top of the Nekojin's head. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he whispered over and over. He wouldn't stop saying it, and the words slowly swallowed Zexion up until there was nothing for him to hate him for. Nothing at all.

At that moment, Zexion didn't understand what came over him. A warmth began to spread from where Demyx's arms rest around his waist, and a tingling ran from his head to his toes. Unsure of what he was doing, Zexion pressed his arms against, Demyx's chest, looking up into the boy's eyes. Something connected there, and he found himself torn between looking away and leaning forward to... he didn't know what came next. And then he did. This had been the last push his body needed. The last push to fully synchronize with Demyx.

Reaching up to grasp Demyx's collar, he pulled the boy down, pressing their lips firmly together to cut off his mantra of apologies. Demyx's eyes widened, then slowly slid shut as he hooked his arms around Zexion's waist, picking the Nekojin up and dumping him on his bed. Mismatched eyes widened at this, but slid firmly shut once more as Demyx pushed him down on the bed, taking a firm lead. Nothing could make him happier than that moment, right then. Everything was forgotten. Everything. Nothing mattered other than the way Zexion was beneath him, completely sober but being the one to initiate the kiss, tugging him closer until they were flush against each other. Hands tugged at shirts, and they were lost. Then Zexion's jacket, shoes, and beanie. By the time the boys were down to their pants they were too far gone to stop anything from going any further. Slowly, the blonde reached for the Nekojin's zipper, and-

"What is going on, here?" a voice called from the doorway. Demyx's head shot up, earning him a view of his father standing in his doorway. He hadn't even heard the door open.

"Dad- what... You're home early," Demyx managed, suppressing a blush as he shot up from the bed, looking around for his shirt.

"How much have you been hiding, Demyx?" Luxord spat. "So far in the last five minutes I've discovered my son is gay and he has his belly-button pierced. What's next? He's pregnant?" he snapped, looking to Zexion with disgust. "With what I've seen with these _freaks_ I wouldn't be surprised."

Demyx flinched. "They're not fr-"

"I don't want to hear it," he interrupted. "I want that ring out, and I want that-" he pointed to Zexion, "- on its way home immediately."

"He's not an it!" Demyx yelled.

"Take that tone with me one more time, boy, and-"

"And you'll what?" Demyx hissed. "Throw me out like you did Larxene?"

"Keep this up and that'll be next," the blonde man spat, turning and slamming the door behind him.

With a sigh, every muscle in Demyx's body visibly unwound as he collapsed on the bed next to Zexion. "Well, that royally sucked," he said, laughter evident in his voice.

"I take it that's not normal, here," Zexion guessed, looking a little shell-shocked. Leaning over with a smile, Demyx left a small kiss on the boy's lips.

"No- just recently," he admitted. Zexion smiled, leaning over to leave a kiss of his own.

One kiss led to another.

And another.

Soon their hearts beat so hard in their chests they couldn't tell if they had synced to the point of the impossible or if they simply shared a heart.

Eventually, though, they had to come down from Heaven, put on their clothes, and get Zexion home. Coming down to earth, returning to normalcy, had never required so much self-control.

...

**Next Post Date: February 1st, 2010**

**End Notes: I made it! I wrote a 5k word chapter in one week! But I must tell you- that end part was completely pulled out of my ass. I realized that the main theme wasn't exactly prominent in the story so I had to move some things around. AKA: Now I have to re-write the layout for all the following chapters to make allowances for what I just did. (I'm laughing at myself right now.) I'd like to say right now that there are really only three reasons I finished this chapter on time.**

**1) Today is Ayden Silverflame's 19th birthday, people! WISH HIM HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Without his help in giving me feedback and such this chapter would not have been possible. He is amazing and we must all love him.**

**2) SR-71 totally pulled me out of my writer's block. I'd had this writer's block **_**forever**_**, as in for six days, and this morning I only had 1500 words complete and a choir practice to go to. Well guess what? I got home about five hours ago and found myself with writer's block on my deadline! So I tried, to no avail, to write. And failed. Then, giving up, I started reading some fanfiction. Then the fic I was reading had some song lyrics that I just **_**had**_** to look up and they belonged to 'They All Fall Down' by SR-71. 'Mosquito' and 'In My Mind' were really what got me out of my slump, though.**

**3) Last, but definitely note least, my lovely readers! I was determined to get at least 200 hits for this story this month and we already beat it at 208 hits with two weeks to go until the next chapter! I am so proud of you guys- seriously. I love you with all my heart, and it really cheers me up to see your reviews. People give me a lot of trouble with the fact that I have deadlines and such, but without them this story would not be as done as it is, and the same goes for you reviewers. Without you I would not be as fulfilled when I post a chapter as I am. I would like to thank you all for supporting me as much as you have. Thank you.**

**No preview for the next chapter right now, but if you check my livejournal (the link's on my profile) and add me then you can access previews, short stories, future chapter clips and such there. It is updated every day so you never know what you'll find next, okay?**

**With love,**

**Besieged Infection**


	7. to June of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard disclaimer applies.**

**...**

Chapter Seven: June of 2010

**...**

**The Exception Laws VII**

**Hybrids are not to carry weaponry of any sort at any given time. This pertains to fire-arms, blades of any sort, blunt weaponry, and/or anything that could be used to harm another.**

...

June fifth. It was sunny, bright, and warm. A perfect, cloudless day. However, this had nothing to do with Demyx and Zexion in that moment. In fact, the outdoors had nothing to do with them. They were in Zexion's room. But that, also, did not matter.

Sliding his hand along the side of the Nekojin's face, Demyx leaned up to place a gentle kiss against the boy's ear. Drawing back, he gently whispered, "Are you ready?" This earned a shiver from the smaller boy, prompting a smirk.

"Y- ye..." Zexion began, cutting off with a small whimper. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he managed a somewhat mangled, "Yes." His voice was choked and impatient, as was to be expected. Demyx stalled, and he nearly shouted his next line. "Just hurry up and put it in!"

Biting his bottom lip, Demyx couldn't help but smile. "It's going to hurt," he warned, earning a small growl.

"I _know_ that!" the younger boy scoffed. "I think I can manage."

With a sniff, the blonde looked to Zexion in something akin to awe. "You're sounding pretty confident."

"I can take it, Demyx," Zexion breathed, bringing the boy's hand up to his face, then nuzzling it against his ear. "It's just a little pain. Not too much- just a little."

"But it'll-"

"Don't worry," Zexion assured him, leaving a small kiss on the inside of the blonde's wrist. "Just make it quick."

"Okay..." Demyx hesitated for another moment, then pushed it in.

Blood welled where the needle pierced the smaller boy's ear. The one-use piercing-gun shot through the cartilage of the Nekojin's right ear, which was a slight shade darker periwinkle than the rest of his fur, leaving a small, leaking wound in its wake. Sharp incisors sliced clean through the smaller boy's bottom lip as he bit down upon it, leaving it just as bloodied as his ear. He tuned out of reality at that time, oblivious as Demyx cleaned his wounds with a cotton ball dampened with peroxide. The cotton placed at his ear, now dyed a solid pink, was soon replaced with a thin, silver ring, which had once been Demyx's Navi. Zexion's hat was resting atop the blonde's head instead, hiding his usual unusual hair-style. Typically, Navis needed to be configured to a certain Hybrid, but apparently humans didn't have that problem.

Leaving a trail of kisses along the Nekojin's neck, Demyx murmured a small, "Thank you," as Zexion tilted his head to allow for better access.

"It's better than your dad getting on your case about the ring," Zexion reasoned, meeting the blonde's lips with his own. His ear throbbed painfully, each heartbeat echoing with a sharp prickling sensation around the ring, but it could easily be ignored in favor of the moment. For now, he could concentrate on the way Demyx's hands slid along his body, tracing every curve, line, and flat plane that made it up. Zexion writhed under the boy's touch, not used to such intimate caresses. Across his stomach, down his sides- no part of him went without careful attention. No curve went without a loving brush of his fingers gently caressing through his clothes. Slowly, but surely, a hand made its way between his legs.

Catching the hand, Zexion pulled it away from him. When blue eyes looked down at him in shock, all he said was, "Not yet."

Demyx only smiled at this, placing his hands on either side of the Nekojin's face to pull him up into an almost bruising kiss that left him breathless. "Okay," was all he said to this, leaving kiss after kiss on his boyfriend's lips. His hands had stopped wandering, but his mouth was enough to leave the boy gasping.

...

June twelfth dawned foggy, with a hint of kids playing chicken in the roads. Once again, this has absolutely nothing to do with Demyx. At all. In fact, the boy was, once again, inside. This time, though, he was typing away at his computer, fingers going a mile a minute as he typed up the contents of his photo notes. Everything from Larxene's first birthday to meeting Zexion in the library, which he'd later discovered that the boy had actually stolen the library key once and made a copy for himself before returning it to the librarian- all without her noticing. His focus was not on the computer, his photos, or even Zexion at the moment, though. Instead, it was placed on the phone wedged stiffly between his shoulder and his ear.

"Wait a second," Larxene gasped over the line, almost disbelieving. "You _lost favor_ with Dad? Is that even _possible_?"

Demyx groaned. "Well, yeah, but-"

"So you're not even going to _try_?" the girl practically screamed. Her voice sounded filtered over the phone, mixed in with a million different rocks and such, but the effect did nothing to dull the sheer anger in her voice. Demyx couldn't help but flinch, looking down at his note cards for help. Hopefully they wouldn't fail him as much as they usually did. "It's not that, sis," he began, "It's just that you might not want to get your hopes up on this."

She laughed, a rather cruel sound in that situation. "What- did he catch you making out with a girl or something?" she asked. Demyx almost told her, but held himself back as she made a small noise, then exclaimed, "No, that wouldn't be enough for him to not like you. You're the favorite. So- what? Were you doing the baby-maker dance?"

He could have laughed at the way she said that, and almost did, before he spoke up. "Close, but no cigar," he laughed, biting down on his bottom lip. He was met with silence. "What?"

"So the rumors are true..." Larxene whispered. Then, without warning, she shouted, "The rumors _are_ true!" Demyx held the phone as far away from his ear as he could, keeping the hearing damage to a minimum as his sister gushed over the line. Out of all the things she said he could only pick out one, which was repeated several times throughout the rant. That line happened to be "It took you long enough!" The worlds had no malice, which was a bit of a shock to the blonde, but he ignored this.

"Look; here's a condensed version of what happened," Demyx scoffed, fingers tapping across the keyboard impatiently. "Zexion and I are together-"

"I picked up on that much."

"-I'm having issues with my sexuality-"

"Who isn't these days?"

"-and Dad saw my belly-button ring."

"That's news to me!" she laughed, and Demyx could hear a rustle of fabric on the other end.

Demyx laughed. "The ring's gone, now," he admitted. At least it was in a better place... as odd as that sounded.

"I never figured you for the type," his sister mused, a small giggle punctuating the last word as she said this. She whispered something again, and Demyx could have sworn she had told someone to stop doing... something.

"I'm not," he said, curious, but not with any motivation to know what was going on at her end of the line. He set the file to print, and awaited the lines to spew forth from the printer as it warmed up. "Let's just say it involves a birthday party and spiked cookies."

This spawned laughter. "You're- you're going to have to tell me the whole story sometime!" she managed through gasps for air. "Dirty details and a- STOP THAT!" she yelled through the laughter, prompting Demyx to hold the phone far away from his ear. Once the giggling stopped, he placed it back against his ear.

"You know you like it," Marluxia's voice drawled through the phone.

"Honey- I'm trying to talk to Demyx, okay?" There was silence for a bit. "As I was saying," she began, "Dirty details and all, you hear? Every last bit down to how you guys first got it _on_!" She said the last three words as if she were singing, and Demyx had to restrain himself from vomiting. He'd forgotten how his sister could be so invasive at times. No doubt she would repay him by explaining every grueling moment in which she and Marluxia had first hooked up, which he would _not_ enjoy. At all. "Don't exclude _anything_."

"All right," Demyx conceded, knowing that such a time would never come. "Later, though. Right now I have to finish these prints. I hope you don't mind."

"Che- you and your photography..." she mused. "One of these days you're going to go pro, with all the practice you have."

"Nah, I'm not good enough for that," he admitted. There was silence on the other line.

"But don't you want to?" she asked, sounding a bit lost "You're never without your camera," she pointed out. "Heck, if I didn't know better I'd say it was your secret lover or something."

"Just because I take a lot of photos doesn't mean I'll make it," Demyx said, voice even. Calm. Collected. "Doesn't matter how much I want it." And then it cracked.

"Demyx-"

"It doesn't matter how much someone wants something," he began. "Sometimes it's just not possible. That's the big picture of it all." He took down the picture of Larxene, Marluxia, and Zexion at the party. The one that didn't look right.

"Demyx," Larxene began, and he could hear her distress over the phone. "Anything is possible if you just-"

"I don't have the talent," he interrupted, looking over the photo and wondering just what was missing. Maybe it was because he didn't have talent that it made him think. Because he knew something was wrong, but he just couldn't tell what. Maybe it was his skills that were lacking, not their smiles.

"It doesn't matter!" she shouted. This time Demyx didn't move the phone from his ear. "You can make it big one day, Demyx! I know you can! What you lack in talent you make up for with hard work, practice, and sheer determination. And that-" she stated firmly, "-is the big picture... even if you are really lazy."

He gasped, looking up from the picture to the collage of photos that took up the entire wall. "Who's lazy?"

This urged a laugh from the girl. "C'mon! Look at the facts. You'd rather kiss a boy than move a bed!"

Demyx began to respond before things clicked. "Wait- how'd you-"

"I'm just glad he's finally over Marluxia. It was always really awkward around him." And that's when it sunk in.

Looking down at the photo, Demyx finally found what was 'missing'. Of course, it wasn't that it was missing; it's that it was there, instilled in Marluxia and Larxene. That knowledge.

"You knew," he said. It wasn't a question in any sense of the word. "You knew and you just left him as he was."

They had known Zexion liked Marluxia. And they hadn't done a thing about it.

"Look, Demyx- I have to go, okay?"

"No, Larxene. Tell me why-"

"Okay? Bye!" she yelled, and he was met with the dial tone.

Why did photos seem to hold more truth than reality?

Settling himself down against his bed, Demyx stared at the wall of photos with a thought in mind. A thought that maybe if he stared at them long enough the world would start to make sense, the lies would turn into truths, and life would suddenly become good and fair again.

But things, as we already know, do not go as well in reality as they did in our minds.

After this he set to work tacking up the typed notes where handwritten ones used to be in place. One wall, two walls, three walls... and then he was done. The sky was dark, then. Heaving a great yawn, the blonde fell onto his bed, dreaming of the days when the family picture might not have been as fake as it was revealed to be in the end. How weak the frame had become. Back when there weren't favorites.

Just family.

...

It was the twenty-fifth, and contained in that day was the first big party that had hit the town since March. The night was warm with no rain or fog to ruin visibility on the roads, nor was the sun too bright. However, Demyx's drive to said party could be considered reckless due to another disability.

Well, it wasn't the act of driving that was part of the disability- it was more his company on the ride over. Lately he and Zexion couldn't spend more than ten minutes in each other's presence without some form of physical contact- another side-effect of syncing. According to Naminé it'd only get worse from there. Soon they'd have no choice but to mate, and then even five minutes without physical contact with the other would send them into spasms, driving them half-crazy with desire.

He wasn't exactly looking forward to that. He wasn't exactly _not _looking forward to it, but he wasn't exactly _opposed _to the idea. At all. Not that he would admit that.

As it was, his eyes kept flicking to the passenger seat, drawing his attention to the road, which made him swerve on more than one occasion. Zexion himself was no different from usual, but Demyx couldn't help but notice things about the boy that he'd never even thought about before.

Such as the way the Nekojin's pants fit him oh-so-perfectly, aligning to curves he wasn't sure he should be seeing on a boy. Also, the shirt was a little tighter than usual, and rode up just a slight bit to reveal a small stretch of skin, which would usually be _more_ than covered, just above the belt. Then there were his blue eyes. Not Mako Blue, not mismatching gold and violet, but a deep, dark, ocean blue that seemed to suck him into oblivion. He didn't know why, but ever since they'd switched Navis the boy's eyes had been blue. Several times he found himself tempted to just pull over and simply stare into the boy's eyes. However, he resisted, which allowed them to arrive at the party just as it hit full swing.

The music was louder than usual, pounding through the living room that was a make-shift dance floor. Bodies of Hybrids and humans alike paraded themselves around the floor, dancing, jumping, and forming something along the lines of a mosh pit. It was one of those 'Hybrid Rights' parties, and thus there were mainly teenagers from one town over, from Traverse Town, that had never seen a Hybrid in their lives taking up a majority of the human population. They were there on the dance floor with the Hybrids, eyes wide as they took in the many different types there were.

Cat, dog, bird, wolf- you name it, they were there. He'd occasionally spot someone from their school through the house. In fact, Demyx could have sworn he saw his Chemistry TA walking upstairs with two cans of beer.

He and Zexion wandered a bit with no luck in finding the host. Demyx sometimes forgot how big the guy's house was. Taking a right into the kitchen, they were rewarded with an eyeful of what could only be described as 'too much information'. It appeared there was a reason the door had been closed and everyone kept throwing it looks. A _good_ one.

"Riku?" Demyx asked, incredulous.

"Demyx!" the silvrette gasped out, half-lidded eyes widening at the sight of them. Pushing a brunette off of him, his face turned a very shameful shade of red so bright it could have lit the entire over-sized kitchen. "A-and Zexion! It- it's good that you could make it?" He didn't sound sure, the way his voice faltered and his face contorted into a mix of fear and shame. His shirt had been tossed to the floor, and his jeans were undone, slightly tugged down to reveal-

"Briefs, Riku? Are you serious?" Demyx joked, nodding to it.

The brunette leaned forward, zipping the boy up despite his protests and handing him his shirt. He was much more composed than Riku was, and only had a slight tint to his face. Ears twitched atop his head, and when he turned to face them they couldn't help but sputter. There, in all his glory, stood Sora. Nearly an inch taller than Demyx, he stared them down. "Do you mind?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Now _that_... wasn't exactly unexpected. They did hit it off really well, after all, and they _were_ at a party with alcohol...

Demyx shook the thought from his head. "Umm, no... Not at all. Please- continue," he managed, holding back his laughter, tugging Zexion from the room with him. It seemed everyone was getting at least semi-lucky these days. Of course, only Larxene was getting the whole shebang.

He shivered, then. He did _not_ need to think about his sister having _sex_ of all things. That was just... _disturbing_.

Moving on into the living room, Demyx leaned over to whisper into Zexion's ear. "Got a bigger crowd than usual, tonight," he said, lightly resting his hand in Zexion's. "Don't you think?"

The Nekojin gave a small smile at this, and Demyx found himself drawn to the boy even more than usual. "Yeah- much bigger than any of the other parties. Although I'm reminded constantly every time I go to one of these things," he mused, eyes resting on a pair of boys, two humans, talking loudly while slurring almost all their words next to the punch bowl- which was obviously spiked at that point considering the slight brown-tinge to the bowl- who kept bumping into each other and apologizing, "how funny people can be when they're drunk."

Demyx chuckled at this. "I'm not a funny drunk, am I?" he asked, leaving a small kiss against the boy's un-pierced ear.

"No," the Nekojin admitted, turning his face and leaning up to press his lips gently against Demyx's. "You're a lazy drunk- even lazier than usual."

Demyx laughed, looking to the boys, again, then to the refreshment table. "Is that cat-nip?" he asked.

"Yes- what of it?"

"What does it do to you guys?"

Zexion laughed. "You want to find out?" Demyx blinked, but didn't really have time to respond as the boy shot off, taking a small pinch of cat-nip and tossing it into his mouth before swallowing it with a look of content. After a few minutes, he said, "It's kind of like getting high, only there's no crash."

"Oh," was all Demyx could say.

There was another minute before either of them spoke. "I'll admit that without that Mako running through you that'll keep you in good shape for the rest of your life, despite the side effects, I probably wouldn't be all that interested."

Demyx flinched. "I wasn't that bad, was I?" he asked.

Zexion laughed. "Demyx, you were all flab and you couldn't stretch at all. Yes; you were that bad." The blonde groaned at this, earning a smirk from the younger boy. "You must admit that it would make sex slightly unpleasant for me," he mused. Looking over to the dance floor, he seemed to decide something.

Taking Demyx's hand, he pulled him into the mosh pit just as another song started. They were immediately pressed on all sides, and the music seemed just that much louder in the crowd. Bodies moved on all sides, pulsing, dancing; pressing them closer together. Close and closer until they were nearly flush against each other.

They couldn't really move all that much at that point. Not until the next song began and Demyx began to contemplate just leaving the floor. Zexion wouldn't let him, though. The world was in a green haze, the high he'd gotten from the cat-nip leaving him without his usual reason- not that he exercised it very much. He always figured caution could wait for the important moments; the crucial moments. Of course, what he wanted to do next would be amazing, but not crucial, so he could screw reason for the moment. Instead, he followed the trail the dried green leaves had laid for him.

The bodies around them had stopped pressing against them, but he didn't waste any time pulling Demyx fully to him, moving against him. He had no idea what he was doing, but all he knew was that the feel of Demyx's arms around him was amazing, and the way Demyx danced drove him nearly insane. Blue eyes met blue- a side effect of the ring in his ear. It couldn't completely change his eye color to normal. The most it could manage was a deep, dark blue that seemed to do nothing more than egg Demyx on every time he saw them. He figured that's why his control seemed to be snapping so much, lately, and now was no exception. Soon, he found himself being pulled into a fierce kiss, and he knew it was time.

Demyx had no idea what was going on, though, as to what Zexion's intentions were. All he knew was that the boy's lips were an addiction he couldn't shake. After they broke apart, Zexion took his hand and led him from the dance floor, then to the door. They were both covered in a thick film of sweat, and when they got into Demyx's car and Zexion looked at the clock to see they'd been at the party nearly two hours, most of which spent dancing. Demyx was clumsy with his keys, and Zexion would have reached out to help if he wasn't sure his control would snap if he did. Once his hands stopped shaking, the blonde pulled out of the driveway.

...

Throwing themselves against the Nekojin's bed, the boys attacked each others lips in a feverish kiss, toeing their shoes off. Hands trailed down Demyx's side- a change from their usual positions as Zexion took clear dominance in what was going to happen next.

Breaking the kiss, a long string of saliva connecting their mouths even then, Zexion moved to remove his shirt, motioning for Demyx to do the same. Their movements were jerky, but in the extra time Demyx took to remove his shirt, Zexion took to the job of undoing the boy's pants. Once both shirts were gone, they met again in another kiss, bare chests brushing against the other's as they pressed sharp against each other.

Demyx couldn't think properly at all at that moment. It didn't matter that his Dad didn't approve, that human society looked down upon people for this, or that he was on his keys, which were doing their utmost best to sink very painfully into his side. Nor did it matter that his camera lay forgotten on the floor with his shirt, bundled in the material. All that mattered was Zexion. All that mattered was the way fire burned through his veins, sinking deep within his stomach and coiling in a place he dare not mention. Marluxia and his plans didn't matter. Larxene and her reluctance to face her own friends didn't matter. Luxord and his anger didn't matter. Xion and her fake love didn't matter.

Only Zexion and the way he traveled down his body, leaving small kisses along his torso, reaching into his pants to pull out what- _oh dear god_ -mattered. He was his universe. His world.

Demyx gasped as Zexion decided, taking him into his mouth. Hands tangled in the sheets, then, as he bit down on his lip, whispering all sorts of curses and blessings upon the boy whose mouth left his mind in a state of nothingness.

And then he was pulling him deeper within those lips- farther than his tongue had ever gone. Thrusting upwards into the bow only brought a pair of hands to his hips, holding him in place as the Nekojin nearly gagged and pulled away. Saliva coated his member, leaving it cold. Demyx whimpered at the sensation, only to moan in content as the next moment he was engulfed once more.

Zexion was everywhere at once. Sucking, nibbling, scraping, squeezing- Demyx thought he could die in that moment a happy man. Boy. Hormonal teenager- whatever fit the quota. As it was, he could scarcely believe he could feel this good in his life. Yet here he was. Then everything hit a high point.

Strung as a wire, Demyx snapped, the heat coiling in his stomach releasing in every direction as he exploded into Zexion's mouth, clutching at the sheets as every bit of energy he had ebbed from his body in that moment of mounting pleasure. That slate head of hair was still between his legs, milking him for all he was worth.

And then it was over.

...

"So last night didn't bother you?" Zexion asked.

Ocean blue eyes turned on the Nekojin, startled "Not at all."

It was what is usually termed 'The Morning After' at the Kisaragi residence, and the boys lay entwined in Zexion's bed, tucked hap-hazard under the covers. Their legs tangled beneath the sheets as Demyx smoothed fingers through his boyfriend's hair- an idle gesture. Occasionally, a digit would brush the smaller boy's ear and he would smugly note that the piercing had completely healed. Placing a small kiss against it, Demyx nuzzled the ear. "You can't really think I wouldn't be all for it, would you? I'm a guy, Zexion."

"I wasn't sure that you'd be for it, Demyx, I-" Zexion cut off, his face heating under his next words. "Even without the catnip, I was planning to do that to you that night anyways. I wanted..." He trailed off again. "I wanted to taste you." Demyx laughed at this, deepening Zexion's blush. "It's not funny!"

"No, it's not. It's just-" Demyx chuckled. "It's just that I never imagined you'd do that without any influence. I mean, I've been the one initiating a lot of this," he mused. As an example, his hand slunk beneath the covers, tracing patterns along the boy's inner thigh. The boy shivered, and the movements resonated in his tail, which fit between his legs to curl around Demyx's thigh. Leaning forward to capture the boy's lips, Zexion gave a small whimper as the hand trailed up, cupping him. "Allow me to return the favor," Demyx whispered, voice husky with something Zexion couldn't identify.

By the time he figured it out, his pants bunched around his knees and his hands were clenched in his bed sheets. By then, a blonde head of hair was between his legs and ecstasy raced through his being, leaving him breathless. Pleasure soared through him as though he were the sky, filling him with twists and dived and rising to an altitude of majestic proportions. Each turn was better than the last.

Things had started pretty backwards, but now everything was almost straight forward.

Except for that.

Zexion couldn't help the guilt that edged through him at the thought of 'that'.

He'd have to tell him, soon, after all.

But for now, he'd just experience how things were going with Demyx. Those amazing things that always left him writhing above the sheets. Sweet kisses, smooth caresses, and whispers of sweet nothings. Everything was brand new to him. So new.

He wished things would never change... but 'that' wouldn't make the wish possible.

"I have to go," Demyx regretfully announced, moving up from the bed.

Eyes widening, Zexion's arm shot out to grasp the blonde's arm. "No, wait! I-" Demyx looked down, meeting the boy's gaze expectantly. He hesitated a bit, then managed, "I want you to see it. All of me."

...

The kitchen was bright with the morning sunrise, and Demyx had to force himself not to look at Zexion too keenly. He wanted to show him something, and the least he could do was pay attention.

But what were they waiting for?

They'd been in the kitchen for nearly ten minutes, just leaning against the counters. It was all Demyx could do not to take advantage of their being alone. Then, after the sun seemed to be steadily rising into the sky and the last of the pink had faded from the horizon, Helen walked in. Her eyes widened at the sight of the blonde, and her gaze seemed to accuse Zexion.

"Why is he here?" she snapped, looking between the boys. Silence met her words. "Zexion, answer me. _Why is he here_?" she demanded again. Her voice was clipped, sharpened to a dangerous point.

"I want him to see," Zexion said, angling his head toward his boyfriend.

Clenching her lips tight, face going pale, Helen nodded. "Fine." Pulling a syringe from her apron, she quickly uncapped it and motioned for Zexion to hold out his arm. Demyx's almost gasped at what was inside- a glowing substance the same color as Zexion's eyes without his Navi. So this was Mako. "The shots are twice a month, every time they are injected directly into his bloodstream to be sorted out by his Navi. Now that the Navi he wears isn't configured to him," Helen snipped, "his eye color has changed due to the frequent shots. They'll soon grow lighter due to both prolonged exposure and the fact that his shots will be increased to once a week now that his body is adjusting to it.

"Mako is radioactive, and therefore not easy to produce, but my husband does so nicely," she boasted. "_Very_ nicely."

Demyx blinked, looking from the syringe, to Zexion, then to Helen. "Why are you telling me this?"

She turned to him, locking their gazes as to not allow him to look away. She smirked. "Marluxia wants you in- you'll find out eventually so we might as well explain it to you now while you're in a good mood." She snickered. "And what a good mood it is!"

"Man..." Demyx gasped, blushing in places he didn't know possible. She _knew_ what had happened between them last night.

Turning to her son, Helen ignored their guest. "Dr. Lucrecia wants to see you next week, by the way. And remember to ask her about Larxene, okay?" Zexion nodded, and Demyx was once again struck with the idea that there were things going on behind the scenes. From the sound of things, Marluxia wanted him back there with them, whoever 'them' meant.

Looking at the empty syringe in Helen's hand, Demyx had a sinking premonition that history would repeat itself in the very near future.

...

That night, Demyx went to his father's study.

"Hey, Dad?" Demyx managed after a while of just standing in the doorway. His father's study had always struck him as imposing, and today was no exception.

Looking up from his work, Luxord smiled. "Demyx- come in," he said, motioning for his son to enter. He turned back to his work, then, neatly stacking some papers as the boy took some tentative steps into the office. "So, when were you intending to inform me that you had a boyfriend?" His voice was calm, and Demyx didn't know which was worse; yelling Dad or calm Dad.

"I didn't think-"

"That's right, son. You _didn't_ think. Next time please take the time to lock your door. I don't want to make a habit of walking in on my son half-naked with another boy." He turned to look at Demyx when he said this. "Even were you with a girl I wouldn't really appreciate it. In fact, I think that'd be worse." There was silence before his son spoke.

"I didn't think you'd be okay with it. I mean... Man-" Demyx mused, going to run a nervous hand through his hair, only to find the beanie there instead. He pulled his hand away, almost in shock. "Anyways, I didn't think you'd be okay with us."

"The only problem I have is that ring. It's gone, right?" Luxord asked. "If not your mother will have my head. It's her rule."

Demyx blinked. "Excuse me?"

Turning back to his work, Luxord brought a hand up to play with his ear for a second before reaching down to pick up a pen. "I used to have piercings up and down both ears, but your mother refused to date me until I pulled them out. Let's just say I wasn't very happy with her for the first few weeks we were dating." He laughed. "Of course, it all came to the best. Who wants their politician to look like a gangster, huh? I also had to stop playing poker on weekends- and at that point I just about broke up with her. But, in the end," he sighed again, "it all came to the best." He turned back to Demyx. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Larxene and Marluxia want to get married."

"No." The answer was automatic, almost practiced, and it slipped from the man's lips almost as soon as Demyx had finished. Face alighting in anger, the boy exploded.

"Why not?" he yelled, hand curling in an almost painful way. "She's already pregnant- what's wrong with them getting married?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Is it because she's thirteen? Or is it because she's a Hybrid?"

Standing from his chair, Luxord, stood tall, an intimidating force to behold in anyone's eyes. He was well above six feet tall, towering over the boy easily. "It has nothing to do with her," he hissed.

"Then it's Marluxia?" Demyx gasped. "Because he's twenty, or because he's half-human?" He scoffed. "I know people think they're even worse, half-breeds, but this is ridiculous!"

"God damn it, Demyx, I don't care about any of that!" Luxord burst. Both were surprised at his use of language, but Luxord recovered quickly. "If it were anyone- and I mean _anyone_- other than him I would be _more_ than pleased with this, okay?"

There was another awkward silence. "Dad-"

"Just get out," Luxord commanded, sinking into his chair and setting back to work. "Leave me alone." When the boy didn't leave he shouted, "Get out!"

Standing his ground, Demyx managed one last question. "Who's Dr. Lucrecia? You can at least be honest about that."

Heaving a sigh, Luxord turned sharp eyes on his son. "She's a government scientist. All I know about her is from the rumors."

Demyx blinked. "What rumors?"

"That she tests on her own son."

Then Demyx left. Once again there was a sinking feeling in the pit of his chest, only this time it wasn't about history. Not about the plan, Zexion, or the broken thing that had once been his family.

This was a feeling that it was all somehow connected behind the scenes. And a sinking premonition that there were several behinds to that scene.

**...**

**Next Post Date: February 15th, 2010**

**End Notes: Kudo's to my LOVELY BETA, Dystopian Hope (PKA: SchemerVI), who is a life saver, I am telling you! Love her! Check out her stories, okay? Although the last bit, starting from: "**"I have to go," Demyx regretfully announced, moving up from the bed." was not beta'd.** Anyways, there's a poll on my profile pertaining to this story. **_**VOTE ON IT.**_** I wish you all luck on mid-terms and finals!**

**Here's a preview!**

_Locking the bathroom door, Zexion turned to push Sora into a stall._

_"Thanks for the help," the brunette said, smile fixed on his face. "I don't know what I would have done without your help."_

_"I haven't helped you yet," Zexion mused with a smirk. "Now, down to business. Drop your pants."_

**It's not what you think... or maybe it is! (It really isn't...) Review!**

**Love,**

**Besieged Infection**


	8. to July of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

...

Chapter Eight: July of 2010

...

_The Exception Laws VIII_

_Public buildings are not to be run, owned, or supervised by Hybrids._

...

"Man- what a drag," Demyx groaned, trudging dejectedly after his father down the school's hallway. "Mr. Fink needs to lighten up, don't you think?" It was the twenty-third, and things had slowed to a stop around town. No hints of conspiracy theories, no mentions of Marluxia, and no fights between the blonde and his Nekojin boyfriend.

"His name is Dr. Finkelstein, Demyx, and you would do well to remember that," Luxord reprimanded. "What's the next class?" he asked, stiffly adjusting his collar. He was used to larger buildings, and the inside of a school building, filled to the brim with students and their parents, was not something a normal person would scoff at, let alone a congressman.

"Well, today was Golden schedule, so English," Demyx said, taking a firm lead. He wished Xion was there, not Luxord, but she had a cold so that wasn't possible at the moment. There was a moment of silence before-

"I still can't believe you passed P.E."

"Will you just drop it, already?" Demyx gasped indignantly, leading the way into his English class. It appeared Mr. Saïx was taking a cigarette break. Taking his seat, Demyx noted that the classroom was still partially empty, but it slowly filled upon his observation. Before long, the bell rang and Zexion filed in with his mother walking neatly behind him. The straggling students and their parents took their seats, but Demyx's attention was on Zexion. When the Nekojin took his seat, the blonde tangled their fingers beneath the desk, leaning over to whisper a small "Hey," in the boy's ear. This earned him a small grin.

"Hey," the boy responded, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he lightly squeezed the older boy's hand.

Mr. Saïx walked in, then, and Demyx could feel his father stiffening from his place. His attention, however, was still focused on the slate-haired boy beside him. A light blush dusted Zexion's cheeks as the Nekojin slowly ran his thumb along his boyfriend's hand. His eyes seemed to brighten a shade when Demyx moved his own thumb along his.

"My name is Mr. Saïx, and I teach Junior English. Welcome to Open House." All eyes were on him, then, and everyone seemed to look upon him in confusion. He looked like a half-breed, with his hair and eyes, but he was a teacher. Hybrids didn't become teachers. After everyone got over their general shock, he went around, handing out that semester's syllabus and to answer questions. That's when everyone began to talk.

"Hello, Demyx!" Helen announced happily, giving the boy a hug to rival the sheer power of a semi. Demyx could feel his eyes nearly popping out of his head, and swore he heard a few ribs cracking under the strain of the woman's arms. Was she taking extra Mako or something? She blinked, finally discerning the pained sounds the boy was making and letting go, turning instead to Luxord. "So, how've you been, Blondie?"

"Helen Bremond, is it?"

"I go by Kisaragi, now," she informed him, biting the bottom of her lip with a giggle. Luxord's face seemed to fall a little at this, but he quickly regained his composure. "So, how've you been?"

"I've been better," he admitted, heaving a sigh. Demyx hadn't seen him that relaxed in a while. "How've you been?"

"I've been good- well, I'd be better if Zexion was passing History!" She threw her son a dirty look at this, and Demyx could feel him flinch through their hands.

"How's Satoshi?"

She giggled. "You see him more than me- shouldn't I be asking _you_ that?"

Demyx felt like bashing his head against the table. The talk was obviously friendly (for once), and nothing unusual had been brought up… but then they just _had _to go and say something like _that_. It's not like Luxord seriously saw her _husband_ more than _she_ did. That just wasn't possible.

And to think, Demyx thought everything had come to an abrupt end since things had been quiet for so long.

Well, so much for that idea.

"Do you have any questions about the syllabus?" a new voice butted in, drawing the adults out of their conversation. Demyx felt Luxord stiffen once more.

"Hello, Ïsa," Luxord hissed, the name said with so much malice it could have been felt from the other end of the room, and Demyx could had just taken a gun to his forehead then. Did everything _have_ to be so complicated? Why couldn't everyone just go swimming and stop making life so complicated? "How have you been since High School?"

"I've been good, Luxord," the teacher responded, gold eyes staring him down. The bell rang, and the students scrambled from their seats, Zexion and Demyx among them. The teacher turned his eyes on them, then stared between the two. Glancing between himself and Zexion, Demyx realized they were still holding hands. It took him a second, but he quickly retracted it. Meeting his teacher's gaze, he was shocked to find him… disappointed. The look was wiped off the man's face, though, and their parents urged them out of the room. Demyx ignored the nervous look on Zexion's face, opting instead to follow his father straight to the parking lot. Not everything was making sense any more, and he just didn't like it. Everything was being ruined by the knowledge that something was being held from him.

But tomorrow was the carnival. For one day, at least, he could pretend that nothing was happening.

Absolutely nothing.

...

Their hands were clasped across the jockey box, thumbs slowly stroking twisting patterns across each other's palms. Oddly enough, Demyx felt no urge to take advantage of the boy in that moment, completely satisfied with the subtle exchange. Grinning even wider, Demyx pulled into the parking lot of the carnival. It was the twenty-sixth, and it would only be there for that day before moving on to another town.

Practically the entire town had shown up, filling the space between rides with adults, children, and teens to the point of an overflow. There was no ignoring the fact that the entirety of Twilight Town had shown up for the occasion. After paying for their ride bracelets, the couple made their way through the maze of people and toward the hall of mirrors. Arriving in the empty space before the building, Demyx couldn't be happier that everyone thought the place brought bad luck.

Then, after a few minutes of waiting, their friends arrived.

"Hey, guys!" Riku called, getting their attention as he pulled Sora through the crowd. Turning to the boys, Demyx broke into a smile. "Sorry we're late, Demyx," Riku nearly shouted over the crowd's noise, popping through the last line of the crowd to greet the two. "Sora wanted…" He trailed off, turning a precious shade of pink.

"Don't you blame me!" the brunette complained, jumping from the crowd after him. "You've been teasing me for weeks, and you can't say that you didn't want it as much as I did."

"I have _not_ been teasing you!"

"Really?" Sora asked, skeptical. Taking on a look of superiority, he pressed a finger against Riku's chest, walking right up to him until they were nose to nose. The silvrette was only about two inches taller than him, now, which put Sora at nearly six feet tall. "Then what about the time you invited me into the bath with you, and then cleaned me with your tongue? What about that?" Throughout this sentence Riku had progressed through a series of different shades of reds, finally settling on the imitation of a tomato. He didn't honor the boy's question with a response, however, and just proceeded to look away.

"Men- we did _not_ need to know that," Demyx whispered just loud enough for Zexion to catch, though it looked as if Sora heard, too, from the way he smirked. Then he pulled a one-eighty, face falling with a sigh. "Anyways, could I possibly borrow Zexion for a bit, Demyx?" The blonde raised an eyebrow at this. "Five minutes- that's it."

Demyx scoffed. "Why are you asking me? It's his decision." With a grin, Sora promptly tugged the bow off in the direction of the bathrooms. Turning to Riku, he asked, "What do you think they're doing in there?"

"I don't know. Whatever Ukes do, I guess. With humans it's usually eyeliner or something, but they're probably fixing each other's fur."

"Oh…" They were silent for a bit. "Hey, Riku?"

"Yeah?"

"What's an 'Uke'?"

...

"Thanks for doing this," Sora giggled, stepping into a stall. "I owe you one."

"Whatever," Zexion scoffed, stepping in after him. "Take it off," he instructed.

Grinning, Sora reached down to his waist, undoing his belt, then his pants. Slipped the denim to the floor, he fought a small shiver that ran down his spine. Bending forward, Zexion smirked, taking it into his hands. The brunette hissed, flinching as Zexion's hands roamed over it, eyes glowing a sharp Mako Blue.

"You let it get this bad?" Zexion asked, astonished. "What have you and Riku been doing?" He ignored Sora's blush, placing all his attention on the boy's Navi.

It was a merged set of three circles, almost like that head of that one cartoon character, and stuck very firmly in a clip set in the line of the pants. Zexion suspected that all the boy's pants had the clip, which explained why he didn't wear low-rise, like the rest of the Hybrids were switching to despite the fact that they made them look like girls. Zexion, however, was not the type to say "I told you so", so he didn't. The Navi was designed to look like a logo, but the design wasn't what the Nekojin cared about, at the moment. A hairline crack, almost invisible to even Zexion's eyes, trailed from the top of the Navi to the bottom, successfully splitting it in two. The circuitry inside was still in tact, but not for long.

"You see, this is why the rest of us use chemically based accessories instead of technologically wired metals- there's a crack through the cover and it won't hold for more than a week." With a sigh, the Nekojin looked up to the taller boy, handing him back his pants. "When did you first notice something was wrong?" he asked, watching Sora's movements as he gently slipped his tail through.

"The party," the brunette replied, sighing as the Mako attacking his veins calmed at the contact of his Navi. "Riku said my eyes were glowing.

"Refracting, more like," Zexion corrected. "A side-effect of the night-vision." Sora laughed at this, earning a look from the shorter boy. "What's so funny?"

"Always the academic, aren't you?" he grinned. "Or should I say schemer?" This earned him a look. "Master of Illusion? How about-"

"My _name_ is _Zexion_," the boy hissed. "Don't start on nick-names." This only prompted a set of giggles from the boy. Zexion scoffed. "Anyways, you'll have to get a new one- preferably a hat or a wristband- something that won't break."

"Okay," Sora agreed, buckling his belt. "I don't need it configured, so could I get a wristband by Monday?" the brunette inquired, shifting idly form foot to foot.

"Sure," Zexion mused. "We have a few in the basement that are extra. I'll bring them to school. Blue, Orange, or White?"

The boy thought a bit, before saying, "Blue."

And with that they left, everything settled.

"What were you guys doing?" Riku inquired, eyes on the two.

"I asked him for advice," Sora explained, wrapping his arms around the silvrette's waist. His ears idly twitched atop his head, tail curling around Riku's wrist as he gave a small yelp of joy. "You may or may not have been mentioned."

Riku grinned, nuzzling the boy. "You can always talk to me."

The brunette smiled, placing a small kiss against the boy's cheek. Eyes all around them glued themselves to the boys, shocked by such a public display of attention. Until then, the crowds of humans around them had gone unnoticed, but now Demyx couldn't be more aware of how much they stared. Sora and Riku still remained blissfully unaware, but their eyes drilled into Demyx's brain until all he could see were their eyes. To Riku and Sora they did not exist, content as they were in their own little world, and Demyx was taken aback by it all. A sick feeling of dread settled into him as he scanned the people watching them; all of them were human.

Feeling something brush against his hand, Demyx looked down to see Zexion looking away, hand lightly bumping against his. A light blush dusted his boyfriend's cheeks, but it went unnoticed as the dread in his stomach grew. The boy's hand was practically begging to be held. The smaller boy's eyes flicked from him, to their hands, then back to the ground, but all Demyx could see was the crowd of eyes staring them down. Trying to shake the feeling, Demyx slowly began to reach for that small, pale hand; his courage mounting-

"Knock it off, freaks!" someone from the crowd yelled.

Just like that, any semblance of courage the blonde had in that moment melted into a puddle of nothingness as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "C'mon," he said, meandering into the crowd as the jeers continued. In that move he had missed the looks, the emotions, that had crossed his boyfriend's face. First shock, then despair, and after that was longing.

Then there was rage.

He also missed how he schooled his features into a cool, flawless mask. A mask he'd be seeing a lot of.

...

Ride after ride, they rode every attraction they came up against. Teacups; Demyx and Zexion had kept as far away from each other as possible. Ferris wheel; they had taken seats next to each other but had stared in opposite directions. Bumper cars; only Demyx knew what he was doing and had strayed far away from Zexion.

Guilt was eating the blonde alive, at that point. How dare he pull away? Even if the entire crowd had been jeering and yelling he still should have taken it. But, of course, Demyx wasn't the type who was good at staying calm under pressure. He was always the one to follow the crowd rather than fight against it.

But that was just an excuse.

Then they got to the roller coaster.

Hundreds of feet made up of twisting, turning, stomach churning certain death, the roller coaster towered over every other ride in the park. The line was long, and terribly boring with only the screams of "The Monster's" victims to keep them entertained, but once they could appreciate the full splendor of this thing, it seemed worth the wait. That is, until they started to board.

"There's a height limit," the ticket-holder hinted, looked to Zexion, then to the ride. Embarrassed, Zexion stood next to the cardboard sign, falling short of the bright yellow arrow by just barely an inch. "Sorry, kid," the guy said, though they all knew he didn't mean it. Riku and Sora hesitated, halfway into the car already. Demyx glanced between the three, then to the ride. It was a big reason why he'd come, after all. The smart thing would be to ask Zexion to wait for them until they got off, but the ride was nearly fifteen minutes long, and who knew how much time had been added since the year before. He began to open his mouth to ask the boy to wait, but Zexion already knew what he was going to ask.

The boy started to walk away. After only a few seconds he was almost out of sight.

"Go ahead, guys," Demyx heard himself saying. "I'll stick with Zexion. We'll meet at the usual place." Running down the metal steps to get off the platform, Demyx raced through the crowd after his boyfriend.

He really didn't know what he was doing, then. The boy was a Mako infused Hybrid, could probably outrun a lot of the professional sprinters out there, and here we was trying to catch up with him in a crowd of people. It really didn't make sense, what he was doing. The blonde was out of shape, couldn't run for the life of him, and didn't exercise at all.

But to his shock, his feet struck an even beat against the ground: steady, quick, and blissfully perfect. His entire body seemed to glide through the air, opposed to its usual screaming and cries for the inevitable stop. His legs bent easily to his will, responding to his every command, his every whim. The air was fresh in his lungs, spreading easily to every part of him instead of bunching into a painful ball of uselessness beneath his ribs as it usually did. Then, there was a small tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach and in the back of his throat, telling him something was different. This was his first clue that something was different.

The thought was wiped from his mind as soon as he stopped, though. He'd caught up to Zexion easily, and it was just like everything in the world that was worthwhile. It was indescribable; new and all-together far too fleeting for it to happen only once. But what if he had walked? Would he have enjoyed the walk nearly as much as the run? What if he hadn't put his whole self into catching up to the boy?

What if everything was like this? What if being cautious for fear of something happening wouldn't be as great as what it felt like to go all the way?

Maybe that's why Riku and Sora had been all over each other.

And with this thought in mind, Demyx came up behind the Nekojin and tangled their hands together, and in that moment he didn't care if the entire world was staring. He didn't care because Zexion was too important to him to waste on something as stupid as someone's eyes. And here he was. And in the moment that Zexion looked up at him with surprise, then joy, Demyx wanted them to stare. He wanted them to look on with eyes wide open, accusing or not, at them in that moment, because then they might see just how incredible he was in that moment.

How breathtaking his smile was. He'd never seen him smile like that, and if Demyx had to describe him he'd have to say that he was looking into the face of love, even at the risk of sounding corny. That was as close as he could come at that moment. Fair, flawless, and incandescently perfect in every way, the boy's face was that of love. It didn't matter if he had fur, pointed cat ears, or claws because Zexion was beautiful.

If only everyone else could see what he saw.

Demyx was in love, and no crowd of strangers could change that. Ever.

"You up for the Hall of Mirrors?" the blonde asked, running his thumb along the boy's palm. Zexion shivered, lightly leaning against the taller boy. They went unnoticed by the crowd as they cut through it to get to the Hall of Mirrors. Once inside, the mirrors sent their images in every direction. Some were distorted, and others looked even more real than the originals. It took a lot to convince themselves it was just a copy staring at them. One hallway turned into another, which turned into another, which led to two more. They were beyond lost, but they didn't care.

Hands clasped together, they gave suggestions, which often resulted in wandering hands and subtle kisses. Whispered sweet nothings filled what air that was left, and the room was getting stuffy. They'd have to leave, soon; find the exit. They might miss the others, and it had been a while since they'd entered the hall. The air was getting thicker the longer they were there, their breathing labored. They doubted it'd get better any time soon on its own.

The boys stumbled down the hallways a little more, trying to find the way out. Then, there it was. Their savior.

As subtle as a brick to the head, there stood an emergency exit between two mirrors. Zexion seemed nervous upon their finding it, ears pricked cautiously for a reason unknown to Demyx. He stepped forward to open the door and a snatch of sound greeted him before the door was blocked off from him. That's when he noticed what was really off.

"You can hear them," he said. Zexion seemed shocked by this declaration. "You can hear them and you don't want me to." And there it was. That feeling that others were hiding something; that everyone knew something he didn't. A fire built up in his chest at this, eating away at his heart. Slowly, the voices just outside the door seemed to make sense.

"-_promised to leave them out of it_," a familiar voice growled. "_He's really pushing it_."

Demyx's eyes furrowed. "Dad?" Zexion seemed shocked at this.

Someone sighed. "_Larxene was an accident, Mr. Mizuchi._" This voice was unknown. A deep rumble, incredibly masculine, it seemed to rumble around the blonde's head with every word. It was smooth, and seemed like those kinds of voices you expected a model to have.

"_An accident my foot! I want her safe, and you have to back me up on this!_" Luxord demanded. "_I want her out of this._"

"_I can't make any promises_-"

"Stop listening," Zexion warned, eyes wide as he look at the blonde. He pressed him back, away from the door.

"_And what about Demyx? Marluxia wants him in_," the unknown voice stated.

"_He's not ready_," Luxord said.

"_For what?_"

Zexion gasped. "Demyx, stop listening to-"

"They're talking about me, Zexion," Demyx argued.

"_Reality_."

"_Says the spy._" The blonde's ears perked at this, then the man laughed; a cruel sound. "_We thank you for that information, by the way, but you have lost use to us. Marluxia needs a civilian, now, and your son would make the perfect tool._" He'd said the magic word; Marluxia.

Moving to go through the door, Demyx was stopped by a pale arm. "Don't go," Zexion pleaded, voice hiking into a squeak. "Please, don't go."

"I can't just let everything pass me by, Zexion," the blonde announced, more to himself than to his boyfriend. He moved to pass by the boy, only to be blocked once more. Looking down at him, he was shocked to find an unfeeling mask upon the boy's face. "Why won't you let me see?"

"I love you," Zexion admitted, his voice cracking. Demyx's world almost fell apart at these words. "I love you, and I don't want you hurt."

Demyx fought to contain himself, schooling his thoughts into a calm line. Now wasn't the time to go into shock. "I'm going to know eventually. He wants me in, remember?" he stated rather than asked, staring down at the boy with a calm expression. "And you should let me decide for myself."

Pushing past his boyfriend, he swung the door wide open, greeted with the sight of his father arguing with a man around Zexion's height, maybe a little shorter, with campaign grey ears with a tinge of blue and a long, sleek tail of the same shade. It wasn't until Demyx saw his eyes, a pair so sharp a violet the blonde could have sworn he wore contacts, did he knew who the man was. This was Zexion's father- Satoshi Kisaragi.

"You must be Demyx," the man said, his deep, smooth, perfect voice slipping out between thin lips. Those lips then curled into a cruel smile. "And here I thought no one liked the Hall of Mirrors." Demyx ignored this, turning instead to his father.

Luxord stiffened, turning to the boy. His expression hardened, and the boy had a distinct feeling that this was something his father didn't want anyone to know. "How much did you hear?"

So the feeling was right.

"Enough," Demyx sniffed, eyes level with the man. Luxord looked away in shame, and then followed his gaze away from them. His footsteps sounded empty, even to Demyx.

Mr. Kisaragi laughed, taking a few steps after the man, nodding toward Demyx in a farewell. "Until next we meet," he said, smirk firmly in place. Again, the blonde snapped, and before he knew it the man's arm was held tightly in his hand, prevented from continuing any further. He looked to him curiously.

"I don't know everything, but if anything happens to my father-"

"You'll what, Demyx?" he interrupted, and the blonde knew he couldn't honestly answer. He didn't know what he'd do, but he did. He couldn't put it into words. Or actions. "You have the anger," the man drawled, "and you have the strength to do some real damage. However," he continued, reaching up to take Demyx's wrist into his hand. Giving the boy's wrist a sharp squeeze, he forced his arm away, leaving the boy almost in tears. Continuing, he smirked, "you just can't put your whole heart into it." He began to walk away, but paused. "Stick to your strengths, Demyx. You're more suited for reconnaissance than for offensive strikes." He chuckled; a low rumble in the back of his throat that sounded downright sinister. "I guess that's why he needs you, though."

And then he left.

...

The twenty-sixth was different, in a way. Upon his arrival to school, Demyx felt braver. Despite the hundreds of eyes trained on him, some accusing and some shocked, he walked straight through the crowd of people and into first period. The entire class seemed to go into shock, and Demyx felt something akin to satisfaction bubbling up in his chest. From his seat, Zexion could feel the unrest of the students around him, turning to face the door.

There, Demyx stood as he usually did. His jeans slid over him in just the right way, a black band tee stretched just right across his chest, and Zexion's old Navi pulled low over his blonde hair. The blonde's backpack rested lightly against his back, only one strap pulled over a shoulder. A light sheen of sweat adorned his forehead, and some trailed down his face. It was July- he was expected to sweat. The raising temperature seemed to drain everyone as of late. Still, Zexion couldn't find out why everyone was staring. Then he saw it, and he realized that he was the only one not to notice immediately.

Demyx was wearing a tee-shirt. A short-sleeve black band tee-shirt, not a turtle neck, and he didn't wear a scarf.

The scar Zexion gave him was on display for the entire world to see.

In that moment, Zexion smiled, again, and Demyx stared into the face of love once more. Grinning, he started towards their window-desk. His every step, every move, was carefully taken in by everyone present. The humans seemed to be in shock, and the Hybrids seemed to be watching with apprehension.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment. The bell rang, but the eyes at the door didn't bother to leave. The teacher walked in, but he simply watched in awe as an entire room of people watched the blonde slowly close the distance between him and the Nekojin. There were rumors, but nothing had been confirmed. But the scar was there.

Bending forward, Demyx pressed his lips gently against the Nekojin's. The response was immediate.

The Hybrids that had followed the blonde through the halls, the Hybrids from the classes beside them, all erupted into cheers and loud exclamations of joy. Some of the humans looked repulsed, some confused, and all eyes were on them. Demyx didn't care, though. All that mattered was that he was kissing Zexion and the boy was kissing him back. They'd been together for a while, but they hadn't been public. He hadn't wanted eyes on them.

Now it didn't matter.

Pulling away from the kiss, Demyx whispered, "I didn't get the chance to say something to you at the carnival, you know."

Blinking away shock, Zexion managed a small, "What?"

Demyx grinned, leaving another kiss on the boy's lips before finally speaking. "I love you."

And everyone could see the face of love for all it was in that moment, and Demyx knew that the humans in that room couldn't ignore Zexion like that. They couldn't look at how beautiful that boy was in that moment and think him as anything less than equal. The Nekojin was worth any one of those guys and more.

He was Zexion.

Everyone eventually went to their classes, and school began. Demyx couldn't be happier than he was, holding Zexion's hand right atop their desk in the middle of English class for all to see. He didn't know it'd feel that good. Once, he caught Mr. Saïx's eye and the man gave him a nod and a smile. In that moment, the blonde understood a little more about the world.

Just a little more.

...

Demyx had never paid much attention in the shower, but that night, when he got out, he couldn't help but notice something about him in the mirror was different. It wasn't confidence or anything to do with his expression. No- this was bigger. His body had changed.

So this was what Zexion had meant when he had said he probably wouldn't have had anything to do with him without the whole 'Mako Cookie' incident.

His abs were toned to perfection, and his arms were lithe, but strong. He'd lost weight, and his face and arms were angular. His calves were shaped, too. Gone was the flab. Gone was the childish fat that had clung to his face and sides.

His body was practically perfect.

A wave of nausea overtook him, then, and he bent over, clutching the sink. Biting his lip, he glanced up to look through the medicine cabinet for something to help, only to be met with someone else's eyes. Mako Blue. They stared out at him from under blonde bangs that were steadily turning a light brown and a messy hairstyle. Scrambling for his clothes, Demyx went into a panic, tearing through the clothes. With a cry of joy, he pulled on his Navi- Zexion's old hat. His hair plastered itself to his head beneath the beanie, and he sighed in relief as the nausea dissipated. He'd taken too long in the shower. He idly wondered what he'd do without the hat, then shivered.

It was best not to think of that.

...

***Golden Schedule - Your schedule is basically upside-down. You'r first class is last and vice versa.**

**Next Post Date: March 1st, 2010**

**End Notes: Thank you once again for joining me for this chapter of Return, and a big thank you to all who reivewed on previous chapters! Just so you know, I will be posting these chapters on my Livejournal (the link is on my profile) and they will have a special little quirk about them. All the foreshadowing and symbolism will be in a different color font (most likely red) so it'll be quite interesting for you, maybe. There's a lot more there than you think! Now, these won't be up for a bit so don't expect much.**

**Here's your preview!**

_It was amazing, the way their bodies seemed to fit almost perfectly together. Almost as if they were made to fit. Demyx smiled at this thought, snuggling closer to Zexion, lightly dragging his fingers along the boy's fur. He really couldn't think of loving anyone but his Nekojin._

**So yeah- fluff in the next chapter. There's a lot of plot-moving in the next chapter, and we're approaching the end. Only five more chapters to go, and I'm meeting my deadlines with time to spare. (Lots of time, hehe!) Review, please, and make sure to check out the poll on my profile and tell me how you think this story will end!**

**INTERESTING POST: I had to finish this chapter four days early because I qualified for All-State, which is a really presigious choir thing, and had to leave town for four days. Because of this, I would not be in town the day of the post. However, I managed to finish it more than a week early and sent it to my beta, Dystopian Hope, with the hope (no pun intended) that I would get it back before the end of the weekend. After it was beta'ed, I uploaded it to the site and, from there, had FuneralSound log in for me (where I will be/am I have no internet or computer access) and post the story, so give those two a big round of applause and a hug, okay?**

**With love,**

**Besieged Infection**


	9. to August of 2010!

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

**Warning: VERY EXPLICIT CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

…

**Chapter Nine: August of 2010**

…

_**The Exception Laws IX**_

_**Hybrids are not to form organizations outside of the government's control.**_

…

For Demyx there was no forgetting the first day of summer vacation, the second of August.

It had been the day of Larxene's baby shower, and the blond was the first to run up to her: the first one to hug her, congratulate her, and wish her luck with the delivery. And when he held her it was once again thrown into his face just how _young_ she was. She didn't fill any part of his arms when he swept her gallantly into his chest in a way he hadn't done in ages; lifting her feet from the ground and carefully spinning her about as he had done for her as a child. She was so tiny, and Demyx felt a little bit of him die inside as he saw the majority of her weight in her stomach.

Cheering as he spun her, Larxene's face broke out into a great smile as she laughed so hard her fangs were revealed to the world. And as Demyx set his little sister down he found himself loving her smile. It was the smile of a happy little girl; not one of an expectant mother.

When he finally returned the girl to her fiancé he was suddenly aware of how the man doted on her, smoothing a hand across her hair and whispering gently into her ear to ask if she needed anything. Their fingers played along each others' palms, drawing circles in the skin. He turned away, then, all of a sudden guilty of the protective nature that had risen up in him. Larxene was safe; she didn't need his help. She was growing up fast as it was, and there was nothing wrong with that.

As Demyx looked on the scene of the happy couple joyfully holding each other in the gazes of all who were present, he couldn't help the tension that crashed through him; especially when Luxord went up to the pair, wishing Larxene luck. Everyone seemed relieved, under the impression that the man had finally made amends with the family. 'Everyone', of course, applied strictly to the individuals Demyx knew at the party, which wasn't saying much. A large portion of the attendants consisted of people Demyx didn't recognize, a few of which were draped in lab coats, and none of them seemed to be fooled by anything. Marluxia's friends, the boy guessed, though he was quite nervous about the beautiful woman roaming about in one of the aforementioned lab coats. She was quite popular, and he idly thought her to be the "Dr. Lucrecia" everyone kept talking about, as it would make sense. No one, including her, seemed surprised by the blond man's congratulations.

They all took note on how his father refused to acknowledge the pink 'haired' man, sniffing lightly and making the occasional comment. But, once again, Luxord and Marluxia weren't the reason Demyx remembered that day.

"She's due in November, you know," Xion commented, sidling up to Demyx's left. A trace of tears dotted her eyes as she looked at the girl- swollen stomach and all. Quickly wiping them away, the woman allowed a sad smile to spread across her features. A slow piano ballad played over the guests, contrasting sharply with the techno that one usually heard at Hybrid parties. It was almost odd, the classical music playing among so many unusuals.

But this wasn't why Demyx remembered that first day of break.

"Oh really?" the blond mused, cracking a smile for the sake of it. He knew Xion could tell what was going on. She wasn't in the inner circles, but she did seem know something.

Nodding, she brought a cup to her lips, gently tilting the red party cup to sip from it. "She's doing very well, I'm told," she commented around the plastic, her voice echoing and slightly muffled through the container.

"Looks like it," Demyx replied, looking back to the party. A few people were dancing, and the blond idly thought it was a little big for a baby shower. Even the beautiful woman in the lab coat was dancing- with a tall man with striking red eyes and sharp black hair cropped short- though she looked rather out-of-place despite how she was light of foot; elegant, even. He found himself, once again, entertaining the idea that maybe it was the "Dr. Crescent" he kept hearing about, but he highly doubted it. "So how are you and Dad these days?"

The woman looked taken aback, but graced Demyx with one of those bright, happy smiles he remembered from all those photos from long before. "We're doing very well- thank you for asking," she giggled, brushing a lock of hair back from her face. "He..." she began, breaking off before trying once more, "He brought home some chocolate yesterday, you know." As her smile grew softer a blush carefully tinted the apples of her cheeks.

"Chocolate?" Demyx asked, confused. Looking to his father, then to Xion, he incredulously gasped. "Are you serious?"

Xion huffed. "You don't have to sound _that_ shocked," she reprimanded. "This used to be normal back in the old days." With a scoff, she giggled. "Of course, you were only about six, so I don't expect you to remember." Then she sighed, a dreamy film slipping over her eyes. "He'd bring back flowers every two weeks, just for me. We'd talk for _hours_ on end- just talking- about anything that came to mind." She laughed, then, and Demyx could sense that old warmth back in her voice. He'd really missed that. "This was right after we got Larxene, actually."

Demyx blinked, thrown for a loop. "Whoa- wait a sec'. Wouldn't this have _stopped_ when you got Larxene?" he sputtered, looking to the woman in shock. Scoffing at his mother's disturbed look, the boy simply stated, "You have to admit that would make a lot more-"

"Sense?" she interrupted, arcing one eyebrow at the boy. She rolled her eyes when he nodded. Taking another sip of her drink, the woman heaved a sigh of exasperation, looking towards the party. "Demyx, we were _happy _when we got Larxene- him as much as me." She took another sip from her cup, then. "I know what you're thinking, and there's no way I could have married someone who hated Hybrids. The only thing Luxord didn't like about the arrangement was the extra paperwork which, I admit, was a little overkill; even for adoption."

"But didn't you, like, marry him to get a foot in the door of government..." Demyx trailed off, looking for the right word. He couldn't think of anything, so he settled with, "stuff?" Her face had continuously fallen as he said this, and the blond almost regretted his question as her face was one of near rage.

Almost.

"I have standards," she began, eyes trained on the grass, picking the lawn apart blade by blade with her gaze. Getting a good look at his mother, Demyx could see lines along her face- wrinkles. She was nearing her mid-forties, after all. "I had choices, too. I chose Luxord over all those men, and-" she chuckled; it was a dark with anger. "Believe it or not, I was quite the catch back in the day!" Taking in the shape of her eyes, face, and the line of her nose, Demyx could see that. Even at her age, she was quite lovely. The age barely showed, and he couldn't bring himself to think of her as any older than the day she taught him to ride a bike.

Demyx was about to ask why she chose Luxord if she had as many suitors as she said she did, but shut his mouth as the man in question embraced her from behind. "You bet you were, gorgeous," the blond man breathed into her ear, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist. Leaving a small kiss against her ear, he smirked as she giggled. "Son, would you mind if I stole your mother for a dance?" Demyx didn't know why he was asking. They were already swaying in place, making gooey faces at the other. Heaving a sigh, the boy waved them away, noting how striking his parents looked together. As Xion moved about the floor with a klutzy step only she could manage to pull off as a smile set deep into her porcelain-white skin, paler than any other human Demyx knew. Her black hair, cut to her chin, floated about her face to frame it, accentuating the natural pink-red of her lips. She wore no makeup; no jewelry- she was naturally beautiful.

Luxord, who stood before her with a gentle grin that spread from his lips to his eyes as if he were the happiest man alive, was a sharp contrast to everything she was. White-blond hair graced his scalp not an inch long, though it still appeared full and soft to the touch despite the product the boy knew to be in there. A beard, well kept, graced his chin, and unlike other men who looked to be trying too hard with their facial hair it seemed to simply suit the man. Beyond that, his skin was lightly tanned in a way not unlike Demyx's; neither dark nor light. Instead it took on a caramel-crème mixture that left his features in a pleasant contrast with the rest of him. Thinking to himself, the boy winced at how similar he was to his father. Both of his parents' eyes were the same sky blue, though, and Demyx couldn't tell which parent he'd inherited the trait from. For this, at least, he was grateful.

"They look good together," Zexion mused, coming up behind Demyx to link their hands together. He looked down to the boy in surprise, then joy, before turning back to watch the dancing couple slow dance to a quick salsa played over the radio.

"Yeah, they do," he admitted. They danced as if they were the only people in the world, and he idly wondered if he and Zexion could do that someday. No lust involved; just dancing to dance. Stooping some of the eight inches that separated them, Demyx pressed a kiss to the corner of the smaller boy's eye. Moving away with a smile, he laid his forehead against Zexion's. "I love you," he whispered affectionately, voice warmer than he'd ever heard it. A smooth hand on his cheek pulled him down further, and Zexion gently pressed their lips together in a soft motion. Nothing but the press of lips: no more, and no less. It did not lack the spark- the heat- of their usual kisses, but it was different from what they had grown used to: slow, gentle, and _sweet_.

Lovely; that was the only way Demyx could explain it, though he wouldn't admit to the description out loud. It was rather girly, but it fit.

The moment was lovely.

The next consisted of the world crashing around his ears and a dull _thump_ echoed through the room. Eyes focused on his mother as she lay limp in his father's arms. Luxord thought it was a joke, but as minutes passed he grew panicked. No one moved until he called for a doctor.

…

Juice spiking is known as a common practice at human parties, almost cliché, but it was unheard of at Hybrid occasions. Yet, despite how it was a _baby shower_ someone had spiked the punch.

With Mako.

There was nothing Demyx could do as he stood in the doorway of one of the rooms in the expecting couple's house, watching closely as his mother's ears were pierced and Navis were placed carefully into the openings. Snapping a photo, he looked at it, hoping, as he did with every other image, he'd find a reason this was happening somewhere in the screen. He found, just as with all the other pictures, no answer. With this came a sinking realization that there would be no answer, and photos, just as mirrors, tell nothing. No lies, no truths, and definitely no answers.

They were only pictures.

…

It was strange to Demyx, looking after his mother for the following week as she adjusted to the after-effects of Mako poisoning. For years the woman had been looking after him: feeding, clothing, nursing, scolding, advising- lots of "-ing"s. Put bluntly, she had been a commercial, yet modern, mother. The woman had been there for him when he was younger for advice, and though he didn't take her up on her offers once he was a teenager he still appreciated that the option to ask her had always been there. She was still young, and yet there she was, confined to a wheel-chair as if she were a decrepit old woman.

The worst part of it was that he was more than aware it could have been him, but it wasn't.

"Careful," taking hold of his mother as she attempted to rise from her chair despite her handicap. The woman had nearly fallen out in her attempt to reach a bag of pancake mix atop the counter.

Xion scoffed. "I'm not made of glass," she quipped, shoving his arms off her and reaching once more for the package. At this the boy could only hover about her to ensure she wouldn't fall. "I won't shatter if I hit the floor once or twice."

"I noticed." There was a silence after this as the blond took the package from the woman's arms and made his way over to the other side of the kitchen. Awaiting him was a bowl, mixer, and a carton of eggs. He opened the bag to dump a portion of the mix into the bowl, heaving a sigh as Xion wheeled herself over to him. "So why did you choose Dad over all those other guys, anyway?"

She laughed. "This again?" the woman gaped, a bemused smile gracing her lips. Shrugging, she chuckled. "It seemed like the most logical choice; the most advantageous," Xion admitted. "I confess it was simply for this." She motioned around her, then. "A house and comfortable living."

Adding eggs to the bowl, Demyx reached into the refrigerator to retrieve some milk. "Have you ever thought that you'd make a mistake? You know- with Luxord? Not marrying for love?"

His mother seemed to think hard on this, leaning back in her wheel-chair. They were quiet for a bit, Xion leaning back, staring at the ceiling, Demyx mixing the lumps from the bowl. Then, she spoke. "I did, once," she admitted," when he kicked Larxene out." She sighed. "I thought to myself, 'Xion, you should have held out for someone better, but you didn't. Look what that got you.'" She laughed, then she was quiet.

Glancing to the woman in shock, the blond paused in his mixing to take in the silence. "That's it?" he asked, almost shocked.

Throwing her arms up in exasperation, Xion declared, "Well, what did you expect?"

"I don't know," the blond replied, returning to the bowl. "I hear childbirth is pretty bad-"

"Demyx, I was _happy_ to have you!" she reprimanded, suddenly angry. Without warning, her mood switched from furious to chipper without a moment in between. "Besides, they put me on so many painkillers I swear an elephant somewhere passed out!"

Demyx grimaced. "Are all your jokes this bad?"

"I have my moments." She sobered. "So did our marriage." This caught the boy's attention. "Actually, I have a good example of one, even though it was before we even started dating, really," she giggled. "This, sadly, is one of the main reasons I married him." She cleared her throat, then began.

"You see, when I met your father his ears had more metal and a voodoo doll." She grimaced. "Okay- bad comparison, but you get the point. Anyways, I _hate_ piercings. They're gross. So when he asked me out I told him to demagnetize his ears, then we'd talk." Demyx couldn't restrain a giggle. "Didn't I tell you I had my moments?

"Well, moving on, the next week he came in without a single piece of metal on him, over him, or in him- and I suspect some places below the belt were closing up along with his ears." The blond winced. "Gross, huh?"

"You're telling me," he gagged. There was a small silence. "So that's it?"

"That's really all you need to know," the woman responded. "Also, a few months before you were born he suddenly started to bring me home flowers every two weeks. That's about when I fell in love with him. Things may not be great now, but we really had things pretty much perfect for a while, don't you think?" Demyx smiled, turning to the stove to set up a pan. Slopping a bit of batter onto the surface, he cracked his fingers as he began the wait. "What? No more questions?"

"No," the blond replied, spraying oil around the forming pancake as he noticed it began to stick. "I'm not really curious anymore." He'd heard everything he needed to. The family wasn't a lie; there was love- even if you had to squint and look sideways to see it.

Maybe, just maybe, that first family photo was still intact, somehow.

…

Words could not express how amazing it felt to have Zexion back in his arms. After spending the first week and a half of summer vacation nursing Xion back to health- or to a point where she wasn't falling out of her chair every other minute-the boy was determined to spend the remaining week within arm's-length of the Nekojin. Now, though, all Demyx had to think about was how wonderfully their bodies fit together.

The boy came up to his collarbone, and for that Demyx was very grateful. With his body curling around the smaller boy's as it was it felt as if he were protecting him. From what, he did not know, nor did he care. All that mattered was their shared heat and how soft Zexion's paw was beneath his thumb. Everything else could wait.

Shifting further into the curve of Demyx's body, Zexion sighed. "How's your mom?" he asked, settling into place, resting his head against the blond's arm.

"She's doing well," Demyx replied, placing a gentle kiss against the boy's forehead. "Thank you for asking."

"Don't mention it," the Nekojin mused, turning to press a kiss to Demyx's lips, only to receive a mouthful of his own bangs. He frowned as the blond let loose a giggle, brushing the sheet of hair from his face before silencing the blond with a kiss. He could feel the blond smile, trying desperately not to pout. Soon, though, the smile melted away and the boy's lips pressed eagerly back to his, arms drawing him up, then over. Then the Nekojin found himself atop the blond, arms to either side of his boyfriend's head, tan hands clenched at the base of his neck in excitement. There was something about this that sparked his interest and the younger boy found himself taking the lead, pressing his tongue to the seam of the blond's lips, which opened upon habit.

That was about the moment he lost control.

Curious hands pressed down along the blond's body, smoothing along the curves, planes, and hard angle the boy possessed. Heat pooled in the pit of his stomach, so very similar to the day they-

He stopped the thought there, opting instead to simply press his lips to the blond's. It was gentle- almost innocent. The fire slowly receded, and Zexion delicately pulled out of the kiss, reaching one hand up to smooth it along the side of Demyx's face. The taller boy looked up at him, smiling. It was as if he were the happiest boy in the world at that moment. Lowering himself once more, Zexion placed a gentle kiss against the boy's nose.

"I love you," he whispered against it before moving on to the boy's ear. "I love you." The other ear. "I love you." His forehead. "I love you." Moving for the boy's lips he was shocked to find a pair of fingers halting his advance.

"I love you, too," Demyx whispered back, bending forward to lay a kiss upon the younger boy's cheek.

When the blond removed his fingers Zexion didn't continue his actions. Instead, he moved back into his previous position- that perfect fit within the blond's arms. Soon, though, he turned to face the blond, making sure to brush his bangs away from his face that time. Pressing their mouths together, his control snapped once more, and his hand once again trailed along Demyx's sides. Soon he was back on top, prying at the seam of the boy's lips.

Their tongues danced for a bit before the Nekojin pulled away, tracing the blond's jaw with open-mouthed kisses, then following the line of his neck. Before long, the blond's band tee was bunched up around his armpits and the younger boy was pressing his lips against the length of his torso as Zexion set about pressing his tongue along every bit of skin Demyx had to offer. Working his way up from the boy's belt, Zexion slid his tongue all the way up the boy's chest before taking one alert nipple into his mouth. The older boy gasped, sputtering as he asked the boy just what he was doing. This earned no response other than a motion for him to remove his shirt. In his haze, Demyx complied. Then the slate-haired teen was kissing him, again, tangling their mouths in such a way that heat began to coil in the pit of the blond's stomach.

Pulling the Nekojin flush against him, the blond trailed his hand along the line of the smaller boy's back. Starting from the hem, he slowly tugged the shirt up, bunching the material until Zexion got impatient, pulling away to throw the offending article aside to align their bodies once more. Demyx swore he could feel each of the Nekojin's individual hairs against him, the light sheen of fur over his skin erotically exiting in its own way. With a groan, Demyx reached his arms around the smaller boy to crush them further together, only for their hips to connect in a way he hadn't even considered. This elicited a sharp moan from the boy. Shocked, he repeated the movement again, then again. He ground them together, reveling in the feel of their budding erections meeting with that kind of friction. He forced them together over and over again before the Nekojin stopped him, small hands guiding his to the zipper of his pants.

Gaping, Demyx didn't start on the Nekojin's zipper until the boy already had his undone. First went the button, then the fly. They pulled away to remove the denim, peeling the material from their sweaty skins, occasionally sneaking glances at the other. As soon as they were both done, Zexion jumped into the blond's arms, knocking him to the bed, caressing Mako-induced musculature as he attacked the blond's mouth. When they came up for air he moved along the blond's neck, then his chest.

"Eager, aren't you?" Demyx managed, gasping for air. He was about to ask where the enthusiasm came from but the feel of a hand caressing a part of him cut his breath short. A finger hooked under the elastic of his boxers tugging them down over his hips, past his knees, and around his ankles until they were completely off. Then a mouth latched onto him and he stopped breathing altogether.

Zexion focused his attention on the head, laving heavily, loving the noises that would spout from the boy's mouth. Wanting more, he wrapped his hands along the boy's shaft, gently squeezing. Tanned hands snapped down to hold his head in place, lacing with his hair as the blond gasped, biting down on his bottom lip before whispering a single word.

"More."

Zexion pulled away then, making his way to the bedside table despite how Demyx had released a groan of disappointment. Glancing over to make sure the blond wasn't looking, he slipped one hand inside the drawer, feeling passed the picture of his boyfriend; he still hadn't returned it, nor did he intend to. After a few seconds of searching, he finally salvaged a small foil square from the drawer, a sense of impatience budding in his stomach as he slid the drawer closed. It made no sense to use it- anything they had would have been killed by the Mako at that point- but Zexion wanted things to go as smoothly as possible. Going back to the bed, the Nekojin tossed the packet at the blond before climbing onto the mattress to join him.

The blond's eyes widened when the foil hit his chest, staring at it in shock. Glancing up to Zexion, Demyx stared at him in disbelief, the heat in his stomach fading quickly.

They were going to have sex.

Sucking on his fingers, Zexion reached down. Coated in saliva, his digits probed the length of his entrance, stretching him wide. A look of pained ecstasy overtook his features as he gasped, hips twitching into the hand every few seconds. The sight of his boyfriend preparing himself sent a wave of anxiety through the blond. Anxiety, fear, shock- one after the other, the feelings dwindled the coil in his stomach until it was a distant memory.

Then Zexion moaned.

It was a desperate sound, and not very loud, but it sent a bolt of arousal right through him. Suddenly, the idea of what they were about to do wasn't too frightening, Demyx just wanted to do _things_ to the Nekojin. Moving forward, the blond reached out to the smaller boy, pulling his fingers away and maneuvering until he was flat on his back.

The feel of Demyx's hands on him, adjusting him, left Zexion gnawing at his lips. The older boy's hands were hot, sweaty, and slipped along his hips with every caress. Then, without warning, a sweat-slicked digit so much larger than his own slipped inside him, startling a gasp from his lips as he pressed his face into a pillow, his new blue sheets clenched in tensing hands. It passed through his head, a fleeting thought, that they had waiting too long to be christened. This thought fled, however, when Demyx shimmied down and a hot, wet tongue joined the finger between his legs. Sharp incisors clamped over his lip as he tried to muffle the profanities fighting passed his throat. It was inside him, sliding passed that ring of muscles and wetting his insides. Another finger joined the intrusions, and then things started getting awkward.

It didn't feel right having things inside him. He felt stretched, part of him tearing, and as another finger was added he hissed. It burned. They wiggled inside him, burrowing deeper and deeper until he could feel the boy's knuckles against his puckered entrance. He could feel every shift, every twitch, of the boy's fingers, and it wasn't nearly as pleasurable as he figured it'd be. All it seemed to do was _burn_.

Then they were gone, and Zexion could hear the tearing of foil, then a gasp. Soon enough, something else was poised between his cheeks and Zexion didn't have time to doubt their actions as Demyx plunged in with one thrust. The Nekojin's lower-half erupted in an unending slew of pain as it seemed he was ripping in two. The boy was long inside of him, reaching deeper than Zexion thought possible, and he thanked his lucky stars that the boy wasn't exceptionally thick. Demyx stayed sheathed within the boy, trying to focus on _not_ moving. A sharp, flaring heat had engulfed him completely, and it was nearly impossible not to pull back out and slam back in again. It just felt so _good_, and he almost _needed_ to move. The need gnawed at his brain every passing second, slowly taking priority over breathing.

After a few minutes of waiting for Zexion to say it was okay, Demyx felt as if he were going to _die_. He was clutched from every side, arousal buried deep in a soft heat, but there was no friction. Movement was quickly becoming the highest priority he'd ever had.

Sharp claws gouged into the headboard, leaving holes where there shouldn't be. Pain wracked the smaller boy's body, ridding him of normal functions. He knew it would stop hurting should he relax, but that was so hard to believe with the way the pain all but killed him. Stretching, pressing, tearing- and the indescribable feeling of being filled, _overflowed_ beyond belief. Overflowing, but wanting more. The Nekojin knew it wasn't fair to just sit there, but he couldn't take the boy in; it was too much. After a few more minutes the pain seemed to lessen, and slowly became bearable. The tingle of Mako made itself known in the back of his head, and he decided to risk it.

"Switch with me," he whispered, proud that his voice didn't crack when he spoke. Obliging, the blond carefully flipped him onto his back, almost coming from motion before he slid out. It was hard not to, especially when the Nekojin placed his calves against his shoulders after he reentered him, motioning for the blond to take hold of his thighs. After a minute, Zexion spoke. "Move," he ordered, almost impatient.

There was no hesitation. Once the word had been uttered Demyx lightly thrust his hips, trying hard to not gasp profanities or bite his lip from the sheer shock of the movement. Pleasure- mind blowing pleasure- overtook him and he didn't know how to control himself. The second thrust consisted of him pulling almost completely out, then slamming back in, eliciting a gasp, deep, keening moan from the smaller boy. When Zexion gasped for him to "do that again" he happily complied, leaving the boy nearly screaming as he set a heavy pace.

And then he was screaming. A mantra of Demyx's name left the Nekojin's lips, his hips lifting for each thrust and Demyx's eyes widened at the sight of his boyfriend bucking up into him, pale skin lit by the sunlight streaming through the curtains. Then Zexion began to stroke himself and Demyx could feel something approaching, building in the pit of his stomach before exploding in a wave of ecstasy. He kept the pace until the euphoria ended and he took in the form of Zexion below him, spent and half-lidded. Collapsing onto the boy, he pulled out, sliding the condom off his softening cock.

Tired, he weakly tossed the latex into the boy's trash can, where it landed with a crackling sound. After a minute he mumbled, "That was amazing. Better than they say it is." When Zexion hummed an agreement, Demyx laughed. A tingling ran through his limbs and he couldn't help but ask, "Did the Mako have any play in that?"

"I think so." This made the blond laugh.

"I could seriously come to love that stuff," he mused, rolling off the smaller boy before taking him into his arms.

"I could, too," the Nekojin admitted.

The world didn't look too bad right then.

…

**Quiz: With the knowledge that RR has a different ending than Return, which I just gave you, how do you think this story will end?**

**Winners of RR's chapter 7 Quiz: xxBleeding Rosexx and luckless-is-me. Love you guys.**

**End Notes: La-tee-dah! So, yeah; I'm completing this before writing up Plain Sight. I hope you guys enjoyed chapter nine, and I plan to have chapter ten up soon.**

**Here's your preview!**

_"That was a pretty nice atmosphere you guys had going on; what happened?" Kairi teased, coming up behind Zexion. The Nekojin ignored the girl, instead walking just that much faster towards the music room. "What? It never used to bother you before. What happened?" she asked again._

_Heaving an exasperated sigh, the boy simply replied, "I grew up." He wouldn't be eating lunch with everyone that day; his pride just wouldn't stand the weight of their stares._

**Big shout out to Noxeno, by the way. ^-^ And thank you, Dystopian Hope, for editing this chapter! You're always a big help.**

**With love,**

**Besieged Infection**


	10. to September of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

**IMPORTANT NOTE: This chapter has been up on my Livejournal for about a month. A link can be found on my profile; it's friends only so you'll have to add me.**

Anon. Review Replies:

7509: Sexy, huh? And never fear- more is on the way after this one! (Eventually, that is.) Thanks for the review!

SexyZexyReturnsWithBananas: I'm glad you like it, and you'll be happy to know that your review was the one that reminded me that Return still exists. Love you!

**...**

**Chapter Ten: September of 2010**

…

**The Exception Laws X**

**Hybrids are not to apply for higher learning.**

…

The morning of September sixth brought some surprises into Demyx's life. First of all, the library computers wouldn't work- again- and crashed in what appeared to be unison, though the entire student populace knew it was just because the things sucked, even for being top of the line. Second, upon meeting with the others in Gym Demyx was faced with the fact that Sora was an entire inch taller than him, having had a major growth spurt over Summer break. Sporting a blush and a rather cocky attitude, he then announced that he was too tall to partner with Zexion for stretches. Quickly following the exclamation he "kindly" offered to switch the Hybrid for Riku. This was said with a hint of shyness and a blush. Never-the-less, it had been proclaimed like a command, and the entire situation reeked of Kairi's handiwork.

Not that Demyx minded, of course.

Stretching proved rather difficult, however, as Zexion voiced a concern; fact number two. "Careful with my back," he advised, shifting uncomfortably under the blond's curious gaze. He settled into their first position, lying against the floor and opening his legs for Demyx to press into a stretch. As he back hit the ground he winced. "I have a sunburn." The blond raised an eyebrow at this.

"How'd you get a sunburn?" he incredulously inquired. "If I remember correctly we spent the last bit of vacation in your room." Despite how he attempted to make the words sound fearless and casual his voice squeaked and a blush stained his cheeks. "How'd you manage to get burned?"

"Well, I…" Zexion trailed off, gaping. "We were in the line of the window, and I burn easy, and-" He paused. "What are you doing?"

The blond had the courtesy to blush as his fingers stilled. He'd been tracing circles with his thumbs almost subconsciously on the boy's knee. "Nothing," he replied, shrugging. "It's just…"

Zexion waited for a continuation. When he received no such thing he prompted," Just…?" They switched places, then, as the whistle blew.

Allowing the Hybrid to press down on his leg until they were flush together, Demyx observed his boyfriend, taking in everything. His hair was unusually unkempt, that day, and a bit frizzy. It looked terrible by anyone's standards.

Demyx grinned, reaching a hand up to lazily stroke the Hybrid's left cheek with the backs of his fingers. "You're beautiful," he whispered. The words were so soft, sweet, that Zexion didn't have it in him to argue. Normally an off-hand comment about how his arms were red and peeling couldn't be attractive would be made, but this was Demyx, and he wouldn't do that, so he kept silent. Instead, he leaned into the affectionate hand before they were called into another position.

The rest of Gym went very similar to that, with lingering touches and stolen glances.

"That was a pretty nice atmosphere you guys had going on; what happened?" Kairi teased later on that day, coming up behind Zexion. The Nekojin ignored the girl, instead walking just that much faster towards the music room. "What? It never used to bother you before. What happened?" she asked again.

Heaving an exasperated sigh, the boy simply replied, "I..." He paused, almost contemplative. "I don't know." He wouldn't be eating lunch with everyone that day; something told him the stares would be worse today than ever before, and didn't want to face that.

…

The answering machine flashed an ominous number one when he arrived home, sitting innocently on the side-table like it had every right to be there.

In Zexion's mind it didn't.

He resisted the urge to toss the machine across the room, and instead made his way into the kitchen. Fixing himself a sandwich, he maneuvered about the room carefully; slowly. He lingered at the cutting board. The refrigerator. The kitchen table. Before long he had put everything away and finished eating. There was no avoiding the flashing number, and he attempted to stall, even when he stood before the table with grim determination. There was no homework to do, the house was clean, and he wasn't hungry. He had no excuses to not press the button that would start the tape and play back whatever message was left.

Steeling himself, he pressed play.

"_It's time we brought Demyx into the fold, don't you think?_" the voice drawled over the poor connection, the deep bass of it carrying well across the room. "_Friday; five O'clock. Bring him over._"

The beeps that followed, short and fast and all-together too high-pitched to be anything scary, only seemed to solidify the air in Zexion's lungs.

Orders.

They hadn't come in a while; at least, not for Zexion.

It was odd, having a set list of things to do. Things he _had _to do. It would take a while to adjust, he guessed, but by the time he'd gotten used to it again he'd probably be sent back at square one.

…

Friday arrived without much ceremony, aside from the freezing wind that started up the moment the second period bell rang, rattling the windows and seeping into the school through the many windows. Everyone was caught off guard, considering Summer Vacation had just given out. There was not much else to note for Demyx and his boyfriend aside from the occasional kickball to the nose- because those things were discomfort magnets- their Gym teacher trying a new cream that made the face-herpes worse, Zexion's sunburn fading, and the fact that after the last bell rang the blond sought out and dragged the smaller boy into the parking lot behind him. Towing him with one hand around the boy's wrist, Demyx ignored the multitude of glares they were receiving from other students. However, they came anyways; a multitude of dirty looks settling decidedly on the two of them as they made their way to the blond's car. The looks trailed them through the lot, almost as if they were accusing them of the weather as the wind pushed their clothes around, seeping right through it, and bit into their exposed skin. It took Zexion a while to speak up, the fingers around his wrist considerably distracting, especially when he recalled just where they had been not a month sooner.

"It would have been better if you had picked me up at a set location," the Hybrid stated as the weight of six simultaneous stares fell on his back as they passed a group of students.

Pausing in his quick steps, Demyx's face lit with a grin. Sliding his hand from the smaller boy's wrist to intertwine their fingers, his eyes seemed to melt at the way Zexion relaxed into the touch, but tensed when he looked away. "You're my boyfriend," he stated simply, a bit of disappointment seeping into his tone, "_not_ some popularity tool. I'm not going to jump through hoops in our relationship to make others feel comfortable with us." Giving the boy's hand an extra squeeze he resumed his course to the truck.

"So you're saying you'd jump through hoops for anyone but me?" There was no reply, but it wasn't required. He knew where they stood, as did the blond. Before long they both laughed. The stares on Zexion's back didn't relinquish- in fact, their laughter had drawn the other students' attention- but they were that much more tolerable.

Once the vehicle came into their sights, the Hybrid nearly found himself heaving a sigh of relief. But when Demyx's hand left his that relief left him. He watched, uncomfortably curious, as the boy circled the car to the passenger's side. When the boy turned around his smile dropped before his gaze alighted upon Zexion.

"Get over here," he laughed, eyes squeezing together with humor as the Hybrid blinked his confusion away and decided to just go with it. Approaching the boy, he stopped just before him, only to be met with an open door and a gentle smile, courtesy of his boyfriend. It was then that it occurred to him just what was going on. Heat flushed his face and Zexion looked to the car, willing his blush to recede. It was a futile attempt, he found, when a hand slid over his, helping him balance in an attempt to reach the high step up to the seat. As soon as he was in the door closed, and Demyx was running around to the other side of the car.

"So," the blond mused happily as he stuck the keys in the ignition, "where exactly are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Silence followed, and no one moved.

Willing away the heat on his cheeks, Zexion cast a quick glance around the car. The leather interior was started to wear, as was the standard gray carpeting, and the windows were getting a little dusty. Despite this, the mirrors were clean of any grime, as was the tape-deck in the dashboard. Demyx's backpack was thrown in the back seat- or what served as a back-seat in this truck, which was a small cubby behind the front row with pull-out square seats and seat-belts- and Zexion soon followed the sentiment, though he was a bit easier on his messenger bag than his boyfriend had treated his. Before long he found his eyes drawn to a small stuffed animal hanging from the rear-view mirror. It was small, green, and had little pieces of black felt sticking out along its being, as if placed strategically in those lines, just as a pair of little black eyes stared at them. Finally, he turned his gaze to Demyx.

An eyebrow raised in humor, the boy spared him a crooked grin that showed off some teeth. "How exactly am I supposed to drive us somewhere without an address?"

"I can give directions," the Hybrid replied calmly, finally pushing the heat from his face to the recesses of his cheeks.

The blond laughed, and started the car. "Do I get one for the road?"

Once again, confusion. "What?"

Demyx had the decency to look embarrassed as he requested, "May I kiss you?" The flush of his cheeks from the wind left his skin a bit blotchy, and the Hybrid had to think about the words twice as he tore himself away from his observational state.

Zexion had a small moment of, '_Oh_' before he glanced about the parking lot through the windshield. At this point the other students had gone back to their routines, climbing into their cars and racing through the biting wind. Everywhere he looked there was no gaze to meet, and it was almost eerie how alone they were. Satisfied that no one was watching, he turned to the older boy and nodded.

A freezing hand on his chin reminded him that Demyx was human. Resting his own fingers on his boyfriend's, the Hybrid nuzzled the digits, grinning as they warmed beneath his attentions. When he considered it suitable, he turned his eyes back to the blond, who wore a blush about his cheeks. It was slowly spreading across his face, making up for the flush from the wind, as he leaned in, swiping his tongue over chapped lips, thoroughly distracting Zexion from what they were doing as his brain went to the nights a month prior. Before long their mouths met, and a small line of fire, even more potent than from when they held hands, shot through the smaller boy at the contact. The kiss was simple, shallow, and altogether too short for Zexion's taste- no more than a lingering press of lips- but it still had him keening almost inaudibly. At this Demyx grinned. "We have to get going," he stated simply with a grin.

"R-right..." Zexion blubbered.

…

Larxene was the one to greet them, much to Demyx's both chagrin and disappointment. "You brought me to see my sister?" he inquired, watching as his boyfriend's mouth set itself in a thin, straight line. Turning away from the boy, the blond bent down to give his sister a tight hug, taking extra care not to jostle the lump of her stomach. "Getting bigger every time I see you," he announced happily, placing one hand on the bulge of her tee-shirt.

"I should hope so," she laughed, shaking her head.

Placing a kiss against her forehead, the older boy slung one arm across her shoulders, leading the girl into the house. The walkway was littered with Winter starts for flower beds, dirt, and tools for digging. "When are you due, again?"

"November fifteenth," she replied happily, placing one hand on her stomach fondly as they sidestepped a bag of fertilizer. Somewhere behind Demyx, Zexion stiffened. "Ignore the mess, by the way. Marluxia just wants a proper garden to distract him from diaper duty," she mused. Finally making it to the front door, with Zexion mere steps behind them, they entered the house.

"Have you thought of a name?" Demyx maneuvered through the small foyer, leading the girl to the rather uncomfortable-looking beige couch that took up a majority of the living room. Taking her jacket, he hung it near the door before slipping his hands into Zexion's when the boy came in.

"Yes," the girl replied as they settled themselves near her. "We've settled on 'Amarant' for a boy, and 'Eiko' for a girl, but…" There was a silence that fell after she paused. After a bit she finally spoke up. "You're not here to see me, are you?"

Demyx started, looking to his boyfriend in question.

"Marluxia wants Demyx in." The words meant nothing to Demyx; nothing more than a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that ate at his insides as his sister looked from him to his boyfriend, then back to him. Lather, rinse, and repeat. This went on for a bit longer before the distinct clicking of a latch announced the arrival of yet another person. "Speak of the Devil," the blond could just barely hear his boyfriend utter as a fall breeze rustled the room. The exclamation, however small, was too late for any real impact on the conversation, but it did get Demyx wondering.

"My, my," a deep voice announced from the foyer behind them, drawing attention the form of Marluxia. The pink-haired man stood confidently in the doorway, making quite an impact despite the bright pink smock that decorated his front. Slipping the fabric off, Marluxia grinned in a way that was supposed to be disarming. Instead, it only served to leave a bitter taste to the situation. Glancing to the Nekojin, a small bit of discomfort seeped into the expression. "I didn't expect you to be so early, Zexion."

No one missed how he hissed the boy's name.

The shorter boy stiffened. "You said to come over after school."

An appraising look traced the boy's figure. "That I did, but normally teenagers dawdle a bit longer." A sharp look passed between the two, and the siblings could only look on in apprehension should the attention turn to them.

"Either way, we're here," the Nekojin replied, a miniscule smirk making its way to his lips when Marluxia winced at his next words. "Don't you have a job to do?" Turning to the side seconds later, the taller man stiffly motioned for the two to follow as he stepped from the foyer and into the hallway. Zexion followed immediately, but Demyx allowed himself to hesitate, turning to Larxene.

"Do you know what's going on?"

She sneered, allowing bit of the old Larxene to shine through. "Of course." Demyx shivered.

The hallway Marluxia led them through was a dull yellow, and the paint faded as if it had been waiting years for another coat. It was odd; almost every house he visited that was owned by a Hybrid had vibrantly painted walls. A sweet tinge to the air was evident, now that they were in a room where the cold winter chill hadn't swept through. It was as if the house was well-lived in, despite how the young couple had only been there for a handful of weeks. Commercial carpeting had recently been installed, it looked, and they clashed with the rest of the home. Clutching at their socks seemed to be its agenda, and static soon clung to their upper thighs despite how short the walk was. Within seconds they were being ushered into a back-room. Demyx braced himself for the worst: dead bodies, doomsday weapons- whatever the man could throw at him.

But his efforts were wasted, considering it was empty. There was absolutely nothing in the room aside from the scratchy carpets and a sad-looking sliding-door closet off to the side. Even the walls were exceptionally blank; cracked lath-and-plaster that had seen far too many coats of over-white paint.

Marluxia, no doubt trying too hard to be a perfect picture of confidence and failing miserably (he looked angry,) stalked right over to the pathetic excuse for a closet and pressed a finger into the handle. When he moved to open the door, however, the handle gave way to its impression and the brass indent broke clean off, falling into the hollow interior of the door with a dull _thunk_. The man had the gall to shrug, grab the splintering wood left behind, and slide the door open to reveal what Demyx would have phrased "quite possibly the ugliest piece of technology he'd ever laid eyes on." It was a computer, all pink, green yellow and orange.

"Meet the Graceful Dahlia," the pink-haired man almost slurred, waving a hand and the machine with something akin to reverence. He flipped a switch, and the monitor came to life.

A blond eyebrow rose. "That is a really ugly computer."

Marluxia frowned. "It wasn't built to please you, Demyx," he snapped, swiping a gentle hand across the keyboard, almost as one would do to calm a pet or small child. "Now be serious; how much do you know about computers?" The boy shrugged.

"Not much," he admitted. "I know about as much as the average Joe, I guess; not much more."

The man grinned. "You know of the difference between kilobytes and such, yes?" Nodding along, Demyx watched the man's expression twist. "Tell me; what are the specifications of the modern-day computer?"

It was an odd question, and it had Demyx glancing from Marluxia, Zexion, and back again before he finally answered. "Two-hundred megs of memory and eighty megs of RAM- why?"

Looking every bit the smug Hybrid, Marluxia didn't answer right off. "Why don't you try logging in?" he suggested as a Welcome screen slid onto the monitor. "I activated a guest account just for the occasion." His hand slid further into the closet, dragging out a fold-up chair and placing it before the computer. "Sit."

Against his will, unconsciously, Demyx sat and selected the lower of two accounts- _Eleven_ and _Guest_- with the mouse. To the boy's surprise, sound burst from a set of speakers he had not taken notice of before. "_Welcome_," a voice greeted, distinctly female. A few seconds later he was greeted by something else; a desktop, entirely blank, much to Demyx's surprise, and there was no start menu- though he could have sworn there had been one when it first began to load.

"Take a look at her properties," Marluxia advised suddenly. The blond jumped at this, turned to the man, then pointed to the monitor with a shaking finger. "Move the mouse to the bottom of the screen. See that little bar?" The man motioned to the bottom of the screen, where a single sliver of white was visible along the edge of the black background- which wasn't very creative. "Hover over it- you'll see why."

Demyx glanced back to Zexion, only to find his boyfriend staring impassively at the wall. A minute passed, and still the Nekojin did not look at him. Finally, turning back to the screen, the blond did as he was told, only to jump when a menu-bar burst into being. He spared Marluxia a look before maneuvering to the computer's stored specifications. At first the numbers on the screen swirled around the screen. They refused to make any sense, and something told the boy he didn't want them to.

"It's has a terabyte of RAM." The statement was simple, but heavy. "Dahlia is more than one-thousand times faster than the average computer." Turning to his boyfriend, Demyx allowed his eyes to betray his shock as the bluenette continued. "A Hybrid invention."

"So cooperative, Zexion," the other Hybrid mused, his crooked smile placing an incisor on display. The blond's eyes shot to him, then, almost unbelieving as to what exactly what was going on. "I should have incorporated Demyx sooner, I see. He makes you so compliant." Marluxia turned to the human, then, taking in everything from his confusion to his mild awe. "So, now that you see just a little bit of what we're capable of are you willing to join our cause?"

It was a one-eighty Demyx had not been expected. "Excuse me? Your 'cause?'"

Marluxia laughed, leaned forward to shut the computer down. Within seconds the screen went black and the whirring of the ventilation fan cut short. Then he was straight-backed in all seriousness. "We intend to hit the community back, and for that to happen we need to take a specific individual from his seat in office."

The blond's expression darkened. "You mean treason?"

"No," the Hybrid replied calmly, observing his nails. "The second amendment, which is allowed to everyone except Hybrids like myself and Zexion here." He laughed, then. "Our second amendment, in case you hadn't noticed, doesn't allow us to share lodgings or changing facilities with a human unless a marriage license or adoption papers are involved."

A silence followed before Zexion stepped in, placing a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Think about it," he advised, his tail flicking nervously from side to side behind him as he addressed the older boy. "With the liberties that are allowed to modern-day humans the Hybrid race could revolutionize technology. The quality of life would take an immense jump forward, and..." Pausing, the bluenette allowed his hand to fall to Demyx's, lacing their fingers together. "They would stop staring."

Demyx flushed. "I don't have a problem with them- why should you?"

The Hybrid's eyes flashed. "Because they can hurt me, Demyx." The blond flinched. "They can hurt me, and they won't have consequences. They can kill us, and all they'll get is a warning because we are less than they are. And why should they care?

"Hybrids aren't allowed to go to college; we're not allowed a future. We can't publish books, or patent ideas. Can't own buildings or businesses or cars- we're not allowed _anything_. This is supposed to be a land of equality- a land for the people. But it's not, and we were lied to and denied that standards of living. They turned against us, and that," he ground out, holding Demyx's hand that much tighter, "is treason. You might reply with something like 'they have reasons' or something, but tell me this- why can't I join the book-club, or go to college, or go to a birthday party with more than eleven people?"

Silence.

"So what's your answer?" Marluxia nearly whispered, standing off to the side and observing the exchange with a sort of bland expression. He'd watched carefully as the human's eyes locked with that of his boyfriend's, and how his mind seemed to settle over itself. "Are you in or not?" Sea-blue eyes, conflicted but steady, locked on his at these words.

"What do I have to do?"

**...**

"It's been a while, huh?" Riku grunted off to the side, picking through a pile of pipes. "I've been so busy with Sora, and you with Zexion, that we haven't really hung out lately." Demyx grinned and nodded along. The shop was nearly barren of people, aside from the shopkeeper and the two boys. It seemed to overcompensate with supplies, however; pipes, blocks of wood, two-by-fours, and a large quantity of tools crowded the aisles until there was barely room to sidle along. "So, how big a rocket do you want to make?"

Demyx shrugged, passing along the wall of nails. "I don't know- it's up to you. You're the big rocket scientist."

Heaving a laugh, the silverette broke the overbearing silence. It was almost out of place. "Still can't believe it, huh?"

Demyx delivered a chuckle of his own, teeth bright in the dim shop. "Well, yeah. You're just plain Riku to me, but to colleges you're like this prodigy or something." He paused half-way down his aisle, sliding a hand along a sturdy-looking steel pipe. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

The boy shrugged. "Nothing really to tell," he stated simply. "Got maybe two more weeks- until graduation- and then they want me down there for a Summer Seminar. There's been talk about Space Camp and stuff."

There was another short silence. "How did Sora take this?"

He grinned. "Rather well, actually." Snatching six pipes from shelf about as wide as his fist, Demyx made his way to the counter. "Hey- we only need one or two!" Riku called behind him.

The blond grinned. "Nothing wrong with being careful."

…

"So you're all settled?" Pressed almost painfully against Demyx's ear, a phone sputtered back its response as the boy cuddled closer against his boyfriend's warm side.

"_Yeah- called Sora the moment the plane touched down, too_ ," Riku replied over the connection. Off to the side, Zexion fiddled with a flashlight circuit. "_Could you and Zexion pay him a visit every once in a while_?"

"Sure; no problem." Demyx grinned as the Nekojin to his side tore his attention from the broken instrument and pressed a kiss against his temple. Redirecting the attention, the blond placed a smack on his boyfriend's lips.

"_I see I'm calling at a bad time_ ," Riku laughed.

Demyx almost laughed. "What? No- this is a good time to call."

"_Right- Zexion's there isn't he_?"

The blond shrugged, though he knew the other boy couldn't see it. "Yeah."

"_Say hi and goodbye to him for me. Talk to you later Demyx_ ," the older boy- _man_- said.

Nodding along- once again without reason- the blond grinned. "Later, Riku." Clicking the phone off, the boy turned to his companion. "Riku says 'hi and goodbye.'" Allowing his hand to wander, the television flickered on.

"_-reports four pipe-bombs had been launched at Mr. Xehanort's car, resulting in the implosion_ ."

The boys smiled.

…

**End Notes: Surprise! It's not Friday! (The site was giving me the "error 2" screen, but Vyrazhi helped me work around it. Big shout-out to them!) As it is, writing this chapter took more time than it should have, it's too short, and... yeah- sorry, guys. Here's your preview!**

_The conference room was dead silent as a man took to the stage just as Ansem finished his speech. "I'll give you ten seconds," he spat, nodding his head to the dignitary, "to tell me why you think this is right." Demyx's eyes widened in recognition. Marluxia stood proudly on stage, his Navi gone, eyes aglow with the burn of Mako, and a gun pointed straight at the committee chairman's head._

**Quiz: Where are the names "Amarant" and "Eiko" from?**

**Bonus Question: What is the plushie hanging from Demyx's rear-view mirror?**

**Double Bonus: What is "Graceful Dahlia" from?**

**Chapter nine winner(s): Dystopian Hope, InjuUchiha, Luckless-Is-Me, **

**Believe it or not, reviews do actually help. How? They remind me that this fic exists! Props to Dystopian Hope, by the way, for editing!**

**Personal Life Note: I have a life, now, thank goodness. However, I find that it is entirely over-rated. Sort of. I'm helping some people new to the costume scene with their cosplays (I sew, paint, design, etc.) and educating some eager n00bs. **

**Love,**

**Besieged Infection**


	11. to October of 2010

**Return**

**A Story by Besieged Infection**

WARNING: Blood and gore in this chapter, but not told in detail. This is still a romance fic. And please keep in mind that I PROMISE FLUFF IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Enjoy!

Standard Disclaimer Applies

**…**

**Chapter 11: October of 2010**

**…**

**The Exception Laws XI**

**Hybrids are not to take part in sports activities or clubs that are not issued as required by the government.**

**…**

The ninth of October dawned foggy and dull, weather-wise. It had been about two weeks since the news of the bombing hit mainstream, and the news channels were going into overdrive in a futile attempt to report everything. Images of the car were easily accessible on the internet, with its interior riddled with screws and bits of glass- shrapnel placed within the explosive- and the seats charred almost beyond recognition. The tires, though, remained untouched beneath the vehicle, as did the surrounding pavement. It was a perfectly controlled explosion, if there ever was one.

"_Conferences with the public have been suggested, however the possibility of these press-meetings occurring within the next three weeks are low as it is suggested that every individual who purchases a ticket must be screened for illegal activities_," the woman on television stated, no doubt hiding her excitement. Delivering such news would most likely bolster to her career. The alarming shade of pink that was her outfit- a three-piece suite- simply screamed 'waiting for a promotion.' Demyx, from his place on the couch, alone except for a few throw pillows, awaited the no-doubt sugar-coated ultimatum. He was not disappointed. "_The only solid information the authorities have of the event is that Hybrids will not be permitted to attend; a decision that has received no opposition from the public._" Said public was most likely a poll taken by rich, government-based, _human_ families.

The blond's fingers slipped to the remote by his side as he restrained a chuckle. Mashing his thumb into the bright red button, the boy grinned as the television flickered off. Then the phone, off to his right, rang. Within two rings he answered. "Mizuchi residence; Demyx speaking."

"_An unofficial statement has been released to certain board members,_" Zexion voice soothed on the other side of the line, voice impossibly calm and even in its gentle execution despite how his words betrayed at least one traitor to the country's ideals; not all was right with the Exceptions Board. "_The authorities are on the lookout for small, politically-active groups of four. According to our sources the Chairman is taking the fact that he wasn't in the car a sign that we are a group of untrained idiots._"

"Sounds like you planned this pretty well," Demyx solemnly mused. "Things are going to get interesting, aren't they?" He could almost hear the Nekojin smirk on the other end of the line.

"_Of course._"

There was a small trace of a grin before the blond spoke. "Any chance you could stop by today? Or maybe I could drop by your house?"

Laughter; soft and sweet. "_I'll see what I can do_."

"Good enough for me!"

"_Well, I have to get going_."

"Okay, then." The blond nodded, though he knew the younger boy couldn't see him. "Go change the world."

"_I will_."

"Love you."

"_I love you, too_."

**…**

The next day, Zexion wasn't at school, and when Demyx got home he came face-to-face with none other than his father. He sat at the kitchen table, working his way through a small bowl of double chocolate chocolate-chip ice cream.

Demyx blinked. "You're home early."

The man laughed. "Yes. Yes I am," he remarked. Luxord them motioned to the other seat on the counter and another spoon resting beside the bowl.

"Where's Mom?"

"Physical therapy." There was a short lull in the conversation, in while Demyx appraised the ice cream.

"Something good happen today?" the boy requested, motioning with one hand toward the ice cream before picking up the lonely spoon. "Or are you just trying to sweeten me up?"

His father paused. It was uncharacteristic. His father loved to talk, though it probably had something do with the sound of his voice, with the accent and all. He was unusually childish in his deliveries, but something was off about this. "A little of both," he muttered softly. Something about the rules had changed, and his father knew it. "I've gotten my final assignment from Marluxia."

"Final...?" Then it hit him. "It has something to do with me, doesn't it?"

"Yes." An envelope was placed before me, as well as a ticket stub. "Delivery from Dr. Lucrecia. There's a ticket to the Chairman's upcoming conference. Your directions are in the envelope."

Without warning, the man stood, grabbed his spoon, dropped in in the sink, and muttered, "I'm going to pick up your mother."

Silence followed, in which the boy tore open the envelope and scanned the letter. Shortly after finishing, he stuffed in back in. He frowned, mentally bemoaning his luck. Snatching his camera from his pocket, Demyx moved to take a photo of the ticket and the accompanying envelope, but paused. The stub date read October thirtieth.

He had time.

**…**

The next day Zexion was at school.

"Are you okay?"

Demyx looked up from his lunch, looking the Nekojin straight in the eye. His reply, sullen and heavy, was simply, "No." The younger boy sidled up closer to him, risking the grass stains, and pulled his boyfriend into a sideways hug.

"What's wrong?" he demanded rather than asked. "You haven't been taking many photos today. The others are wondering what's wrong."

Demyx rolled his eyes. "They don't want me to take pictures, Zexion." He flung in arm in the general direction of the others. "In case you hadn't noticed, they don't want me anywhere near them. Any why not? Who knows what I could do to them? And to you? I've already messed with the Hybrids twice- third time's the charm!"

Zexion's eyes narrowed. Without warning, he stood, pulling Demyx up by the elbow. It jarred his shoulder horribly, but the blond made no complaints as the Nekojin almost literally dragged him into the school, then practically threw him into an empty classroom. "What the hell, Demyx?" he hissed, much to the blond's surprise. "They know you're on our side, now."

"Well, that's what they thought last time."

With no response to make, the Nekojin remained quiet for a second. His mind raced. What could have possibly put Demyx in this kind of mood? It was strange. After a bit, he settled on, "Stop being so..." He seemed to fumble with words for a second before settling on, "childish!"

"But don't you see?" he snapped. "I am a kid! I'm almost eighteen- if I'm not being childish then something's wrong!"

"Well something's wrong right now! Why can't you see that?"

"I can see that."

The Nekojin scoffed. "Well, if you're going to be like that I'm not going to be around you for a while." He moved to leave. "Come get me when you feel like sharing."

Immediately, Demyx softened. "Sorry, it's just that-"

"That what, Demyx?" Zexion didn't bother turning around when he administered a biting, "That you're not ready to grow up?"

"Marluxia's plan- I can't-"

"There's no 'can' or 'can't' in Marluxia's plan, Demyx. There's only 'do' and 'don't.'"

Demyx bristled. "Do you even know what he's going to do?"

"Oh course I don't," Zexion admitted. "He's handed the reigns for the operation over to Dr. Lucrecia. No one knows what's happening next." At the name Demyx flinched, but the Nekojin didn't see this. The blond chose then to sit down as a realization dawned. No one knew what was going down at the conference. Not even Zexion. "But we'll all come out perfectly fine. There's nothing to worry about." Demyx began to realize just how little the Organization knew about itself.

But his mission had just been proven official, no matter how horrible. "Only 'do's and 'don't's, huh?" Demyx miserably mused, burying his face in his hands. His fingers pressed against his eyebrows, then slid apart, massaging them outwards as the bud of a headache began somewhere between his temples.

And then there were arms, along with fur and the incredible smell of musk and wet skin that was so incredibly Zexion, surrounding his shoulders and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "It's all going to be okay."

"Right..." the blond surrendered, allowing himself to believe that, if only for a bit longer. "It'll all be fine."

**…**

Twentieth of October. It was the big day.

Styling his hair in its usual way before smashing it under the beanie after his shower, Demyx tried to pretend whatever he was about to do wasn't actually going to happen. He wasn't going to back up Marluxia in the worst way possible. He wasn't going to see horrible, horrible things that day.

The envelope had long-since been burned, as his directions were more than clear. Demyx pulled on the clothes bundled on the toilet seat and with ticket-stub in hand the blond went downstairs. "You're up late," his mother greeted in the living room, giving him a look that read disappointment as she wheeled from her place in front of the television over to him. "Shouldn't you be at school by now?"

"Dad gave me the day off," he replied, reaching deep into his back pocket to retrieve a note his father had prepared. "I'm going to see the conference. Take some pictures for the school paper, you know?"

She gave him a suspicious look. "You're not taking newspaper class."

The boy shrugged, taking a step around his mother and making his way to the kitchen. Xion really was sharp. "I just wanted to go, and Dad thought it was a good idea." Lies. They rolled off his tongue so easily, but he knew his voice was a dead giveaway. He always was a terrible liar.

But the note made it plausible, because his father really had written it.

After a quick breakfast, Demyx headed to his car. It felt strange, heading out at noon to something he knew would change everything for him, everything for so many people.

Nothing for so many others.

His fingers itched for Zexion, but their bond would have to wait.

**…**

Everything was so loud. Demyx hadn't been aware that an address- as he had realized the press conference would come after- could be so loud. It was surely a loud one on the scale, and the room was much larger than they usually were on television. Normally the rooms were smaller, with just enough room for the press to pack in their equipment and hope for the best for good sound quality. However, an entire auditorium had been rented out. People were rushing about everywhere, and press photographers with their big fancy professional cameras were bustling to and fro, taking pictures of this politician and that activist. These chairmen and those political "has-been"s who showed.

Being seventeen with jeans and a T-shirt, the man at the door hadn't originally let Demyx through. It had taken flashing his father's letter three times and a lie about the school newspaper- the same on he'd told his mother- to get through the front door, only to be stopped by a bouncer. This one was harder to convince. For this one he actually pulled out his camera- which was a dinky little piece of nothing compared to the press'- and showed some of his photography. It was strange, showing someone a photo when they weren't in it. Usually the camera was kept well within his own reach.

Luckily, he'd thought ahead and stored all the photos with Hybrids in them on his computer. Nothing could give away that he was pro-Hybrid. No in this crowd. Not with what was going down.

When he got in he went straight to his seat and adjust his camera settings for the lighting. The stage was already lit for the speaker, so it was much easier than he thought it'd be.

Eventually the press settled down, and people went to their seats. Seated just behind the press section, he found visibility limited. And he liked it that way. The less he saw the better.

An announcer stepped up an introduced the Hybrid Committee Chairman, and that's when things really went quiet.

"Welcome," he began. "It's good to know so many people still care about the rights of our people. Even more so, it's good to see youth taking an interest in politics." Then the man looked pointedly at Demyx, and he felt his throat drop somewhere between his stomach and his knees. Somewhere on that uncomfortable chair was his heart, as well, soaking the tinny, paint-flaking surface in imaginary blood. A camera somewhere might have been placed on Demyx, but the boy hoped it wasn't. "We are here, as you all know, to talk about the rights of humans everywhere. For us to live freely a threat must be kept contained.

"For this reason the Hybrid Exception Laws were created..." He paused, almost in contemplation. "But we all know this! It's common sense! Why, you may wonder, are we holding this conference? The danger they pose should already be well contained, and it is!" His deep, booming voice was compelling. Every word he spoke seemed to be the truth just by having once existed within the man. Demyx even felt himself wishing each of those sugar-coated vowels were true. But there was no danger posed without that man. "I would like to bring to mind the car bombing that occurred not long ago, when a pipe-bomb was sent through my car's window and exploded, sending shrapnel through the windows and into the surrounding street.

"Now, pipes are not easily accessible for a Hybrid. And rightly so, as events like this occur. However, countless detectives have been looking into the event, and have surfaced from the case without results." The man had the audacity to look tired. "It has been determined that they have at least one human accomplice in their numbers, and that their numbers may be greater than four. Greater than ten. Greater than twelve." A collective of murmurs spread through the crowd, and Demyx began to wonder if everyone there was trained to react in such a cliché manner. "I am speaking of an Organization made up of unregistered Hybrids, ringed by a group of socially ostracized humans bent on social unrest."

Demyx's scoff was lost in the uproar that followed. He did not bother mentally commenting on the crowd's reaction, and instead scanned the stage. Four guards, all equipped with two-way radios and what he hoped were stun guns. It was hard to tell from that angle.

"A step we need to consider," he continued once the crowd had settled down, "is the implementation of new laws. Some representatives of the committee are meeting as we speak, with Dr. L. Crescent at the head." The name gave Demyx a start. The woman was everywhere. "We hope to regulate the flow of information available on the internet as a hope to stop any other Organizations in the budding stages, as well as corner the current threat and put an end to their attacks."

Demyx sighed. No one in that room knew what they were doing, and he was only just realizing how bad it really was. All the strings were behind the scenes, and none of them were in the hands anyone thought they were. Marluxia didn't control a thing. The supposed chairman was just a face, just as scared by his bigoted words as the people. Zexion only followed orders. Luxord only followed orders. I was just following orders.

And all the orders were being issued by Dr. Lucrecia Crescent.

"Hybrids are a dangerous race not meant to rightfully exist in this world. Their levels of intelligence are dangers, and their strength, when allowed growth, can reach levels overwhelming nearly any obstacle that comes to them. It is deep-rooted in their society and their nature that violence is the only answer-"

The conference room was dead silent as a man took to the stage just as Ansem finished his speech. "I'll give you ten seconds," he shouted, nodding his head to the man, "to tell me why you think you're right." Demyx's eyes widened in recognition. Marluxia stood proudly on stage, his Navi gone, eyes aglow with the burn of Mako, and a gun pointed straight at the chairman's head. The barrel nearly scraped his nose. At point blank Marluxia could not miss. He looked down on the Chairman, standing a good three inches taller. The entire exchange had taken mere seconds, and it seemed that it hadn't occurred to anyone to stop him.

Up Demyx's camera went for the first time that night. He seemed to be the only one brave enough.

"Ten."

Silence. It seemed the chairman was in shock, staring down the barrel of a gun. "As a fellow human you should understand-"

"Don't insult me. Nine."

The entire crowd seemed to glance at the man's head in unison, where the skin spiked back much like hair. The chairman seemed to realize his mistake.

"Eight."

Another shot was taken as the guards in the background seemed at a loss as for what to do. Some moved to reach for their holsters.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Marluxia advised, jamming the tip of his gun into the man's temple. "I can handle a gunshot much better than a human, and if you shoot I'll be more than capable of pulling this trigger." He grinned. "Seven, six, five." The numbers were spoken quickly. "See what that got you? A penalty. What do you know?" His words- all of them- were being caught in the microphone. The entire crowd could hear.

Demyx momentarily wondered why no one ran, but thought better of it. This man had been brainwashing them for years, convincing them that Hybrids were dangerous and to be feared. Controlled. They thought he would pull through and keep them "safe."

Strange how the mentality of the human race can be so diminished by the mere thought of danger.

"Four."

The chairman seemed to have regained his footing. "How can you expect us to trust you when you react in a violent manner such as this?"

"See, that would be a great comeback if it weren't for the whole 'human rights' bit you're forgetting. The one where we're allowed to speak up against oppression. But wait! We're not human, according to your laws! What do you know?" He backed up a bit at his. "But you know what? This earned a different sort of penalty."

Suddenly, the room went blacks, and a series of four gunshots rung through the room along with a panicked, "Get down, sir!"

A million cell-phone flashlights burst into being as more shots were heard. People began to flee for the exit. Demyx, however, remained exactly where he was. The press from in front of his occasionally jostled him as the fled, but he stood completely still in his seat. After a good thirty seconds, when the shooting died down, he stood from his seat and slunk towards what he hoped was the stage. Off to the left was the familiar glow of Mako, but he ignored it for the time being.

He set his camera on flash, and carefully hoisted himself on stage. Right as he moved to step, however, his foot slipped- just enough to be a warning- and he held back a gag. As it was, he refused to think of what was going on.

Extracting himself from the situation, he carefully held his camera to his right eye and prompted a photo. The light came on, and he nearly gagged at the sight of Marluxia and the chairman lying face-down in their own puddles of blood. A thought occurred to him- where were the guards? A glance to his right proved many of them were nursing bullet wounds of their own, more commonly in arms and legs. Somehow, all of them had been injured, but none of them were dead. Neither could they move.

More photos were snapped, in hope that the men wouldn't recuperate before he could finish his job. A bullet-wound to the back of the chairman's head- which didn't make sense. He'd been facing Marluxia. Shouldn't it be in the front? Demyx ignored the hollow feeling in the center of his chest, choosing instead to continue.

Three wounds to Marluxia's stomach, and two to the head. None of them were healing, despite the sheer quantity of Mako flowing freely from the man's body mixed with his blood.

Marluxia was dead.

Thoughts centered around Larxene began to make themselves known, but Demyx pushed them away, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand without actually thinking about it.

Shots of the gun was taken. Shots of the bodyguards, how they were doing. At one point Demyx slipped in the puddle where the chairman lay, and his pants soon were soaked with something else he'd wanted to avoid.

Then he made his escape.

Instead of heading to the doors, he jumped into the excitement that was backstage. Police had yet to arrive, and only four bodyguards had been on site. But when he's almost made it to the emergency exit, a strong hand took hold on his arm and dragged him into a bathroom. He fought the grip initially before a familiar voice whispered, "Calm down- I'm on your side." A portable electric lamp was lit and set on the sink as Demyx's "assailant" let him go and rustled around in a bag. His face, finally visible, made Demyx think back. A short silence followed.

"Roxas?" he gaped, suddenly recognizing the boy from school. "What are you doing here? And what do you mean you're on our side?"

Much to Demyx's (further extent of) surprise, Roxas tugged free of the backpack a set of clothing. "My real name is Ventus Vanitas Crescent." He stood up straight, showing he was exactly Demyx's height. "That should answer most of your questions." Demyx wanted to say it did, but it opened up so many others that he knew would never be answered. The camera was snatched from his limp fingers and stored in the backpack. "Change into these." The clothes were set beside the lamp. "When your clothes come off don't drop them on the floor- put them in this bag and then wipe yourself off with these. They also go in the bag." A bundle of alcohol wipes were set next to the clothes, and a bag was thrown at the boy's feet.

Roxas- or Ventus- turned face and looked at the wall as Demyx's clothes were practically torn off his body.

The shirt wasn't too badly ruined. Only a few spatters of blood here and there. The undershirt he took off despite having completely escaped any form of stain. He swiped the underside of his arms with it before chucking it in the bag. Shoes were removed using only the laces as he refused to touch the bottoms for fear of some kind of contamination. His pants and boxers went next, but not before they clung to his body with every movement, parting from his skin with the accompanying squelching noises wet fabric was famous for.

The smell was horrible.

The alcohol wipes were a meticulous process, but it needed doing. Before long, Demyx reeked of cotton and clean bathroom floors. These, too, were chucked in with the clothes.

Ventus donned gloves and tied the bag quickly- it was a plain plastic shopping bag. He then double-bagged it before shoving it into the backpack after tucking the gloves inside out into the crevice around the tie. He threw the clothes to the other blond. "Hurry up- we don't have much time!" The clothes were donned, and the car keys from Demyx's pants, clean, were shoved into his hand. "Your car should be right outside the nearest exit."

Demyx was pushed out of the bathroom and into the car that was, indeed, right outside the door marked, "Exit" he's tried to leave through before Ventus had stopped him.

"Drive!" the boy commanded, and Demyx gave him a look. "What are you doing?"

"Where am I headed?"

"This isn't the time!" A solid response. Demyx turned the car out of the lot, making sure no one was outside to see them leave.

After about two blocks Ventus guided the other blond to an upscale neighborhood, where he was dropped off with the camera. "Go home," the boy ordered. "Get some rest. I'll take care of things here."

It was nice to knowing someone would. He went to pull away from the house, but Ventus suddenly returned, his hand against the door.

"Tomorrow don't hang around any Hybrids," he said. "Don't even pick up Zexion. If anything is different do not go anywhere near them. Your record will protect you for a while."

**…**

School the next day was something akin to a nightmare.

The moment Demyx arrived he knew something was different. Two men stood by the door and requested the ID of everyone who went through. Near the front stood Zexion, and the blond nearly jumped into- probably violent- action when one of the men started laughing as he approached them with his ID. They did eventually let him in, however. When Demyx approached, however, they didn't laugh. One of them even tilted his head and said, "Sorry for the inconvenience."

Furious, the boy couldn't bring himself to pay attention in any of his classes.

Sometime after Math, in one of the hallways that didn't have any guards, Demyx spotted Zexion. When he was near enough to his boyfriend, he grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the wall, ignoring the boy's sharp whisper of, "What are you doing?"

"What's going on?" he asked under his voice.

"Feds are interfering everywhere. Checking for possible uprisings at places where large quantities of Hybrids work or live." The entire thing was said matter-of-fact, and Demyx felt panic rise within him.

"Is your house being monitored?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." The blond flinched. "Listen, Demyx, when you get home you need to take down those photos on your wall. Anything linking humans with Hybrids is really dangerous right now. Also..." Pausing, Zexion seemed to need to force himself to say the next few words. "We can't see each other until it's safe, and I don't know how long that could take."

When Zexion brushed past him, Demyx felt a bit of himself crack. Everywhere the Nekojin had once marked him suddenly burned, and it took everything he had in him not to spin on his heel and embrace the boy right there.

**…**

At first Demyx thought that things might calm down in a day or two. "Safe" could mean anything from a lack of guards at the school to a public announcement of Hybrid freedom. Who knew how fast Dr. Crescent could work behind the scenes? He used this reasoning the first twenty-four hours without much contact, aside from English class. Then the first forty-eight, when their only contact was the tentative brush of ankles under the table. On the twenty-fifth of October things did not prove to be any quieter, however, and he was losing hope. Halloween was approaching, and he was running out of steam. When Halloween did occur, Demyx spent the holiday by the front door, handing out candy in the hope that Zexion might pass by.

Unfortunately his efforts did not pay off, and he was left pining for the boy in the silence of November 1st.

**…**

**End Notes: I PROMISE FLUFF IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. This was written in about six hours, but I still like it. Kind of short- just shy of 5,000 words, but it'll have to do. You all may notice that I'm updating much more often- what with posting the prologue and the first chapter of Plain Sight, and now chapter eleven on Return in less than a month. Oh- please check out the rewrite of this fic! It's already complete.**

**Here's your preview for chapter twelve!**

_There was something oddly familiar about the way Zexion dropped to the floor beneath Demyx's bedroom window. Was it memories of days passed? No. It was the curve of the Nekojin's torso, even as he curled into a ball beneath the sill, almost as if in pain. A quick check of the boy's body showed there were no wounds, so the blond quickly closed the window and drew the curtains._

"_They got us," Zexion was whispering, tears trailing down his face as he no doubt mentally recounted whatever experience he'd just gone through. "They stormed the house and they found us. The Calm isn't coming fast enough."_

**Cue trumpet music or something here. So, in case you didn't notice, I'm doing something odd with the characterization. But let's leave that for a later note! For the time being, let's go on to the question of the chapter! Careful, though! This one's pretty hard, and has multiple answers. Many "answers" given will not be considered correct.**

**Quiz: What does Roxas' "real name" imply about him?**

**Chapter ten winner(s): Dysopian Hope**

**This chapter did not have a beta. Sorry, guys! Hope my spelling's gotten good enough to pass on its own without too much scrutiny, though! (I did go through it twice myself to check for mistakes.) If you see any errors feel free to point them out. And once again, reviews remind me this fic exists as I have eight other projects going on at the moment.**

**Kudos to my three favorites reviewers- Luckless-Is-Me, Inju Uchiha, and Dystopian Hope for generally being awesome! I love you guys. (Insert very happy face with hearts coming off it here.)**

**Love,**

**Besieged Infection**


	12. to November of 2010!

**Return**

**A Story by Besieged Infection**

WARNINGS: Explicit materials describing the acts of teenagers left in the same room for too long.

Standard Disclaimer Applies

…

**Chapter 12: November of 2011**

…

The Exception Laws XII

Hybrids and humans are not to attend the same primary, elementary, or junior high schools.

…

November was when the nightmares started. Nightmares of blood and photographs. Bullet wounds and stained floors. Slippery socks, clinging to ankles and toes, slipping up on that bathroom floor and shoes were removed and articles of clothing were shed. Pants that clung to the body even after they were off, a terrible stench rising from the skin. Horrible dreams of what you took so lightly in video games and movies. And so much blood. And faces, blank and staring up at the vaulted ceilings of the auditorium, forever unseeing.

**…**

The eighth was horrible.

Before, the guards had been posted at the door, checking I.D. and monitoring the comings and goings of the non-human population. Now they patrolled the hallways. It seemed the higher ups had decided to crack down on high school students, though there were no official announcements on television. In fact, the government seemed to be keeping this as quiet as possible. News stations didn't touch the infiltration in passing, let alone in an actual report, such as an interview or photos. No one explained the situation.

Demyx had a feeling that it was because everyone knew that a Hybrid had killed the Hybrid Exceptions Committee Chairman. No explanation was necessary, like learning how to breath or eat food. But he questioned it anyway. Where had they gotten the permission to enter the school? Did they have a warrant? Proof that students enrolled had connections with Marluxia? No- nothing so obvious. They'd probably started some neighborhood committee and were taking shifts at the school.

Taking note of how the 'guards' dressed, the blond figured they weren't official. In fact, they looked like they could be parents of some of the kids at the school. This surprised Demyx at first, but made sense. On the second day they began dressing like teachers as they patrolled the halls with a marked interest in the Hybrid students.

Six consecutive days into this pattern, on the sixteenth, they began another one.

"Hello, Demyx Mizuchi." The teen had been called down to a small, out of the way classroom in the art wing. Directed to sit in one of the desk-chairs, he had waited anxiously for the man sitting behind the desk the speak. He was bald, with piercing eyes and a well-kept beard. Demyx put him at around ninety, maybe older, but he handled the age well. Wrinkled, he had tan skin stretched over his skeleton in a way that was both youthful and disturbing.

In a world, he looked Evil.

For lack of anything else to say, Demyx responded with a nervous, "Sir."

"Well, my boy, you may be wondering why you are here." He was also wondering why the man had called him his boy. Was it some old expression? The blond hoped he would never use it on anyone else. It was confusing. "Now, does the name 'Zachary Fair' mean anything to you?"

Demyx winced. "Yes, sir. What about him?"

The man scoffed. "Polite, I see." A manilla folder was snatched from the desk. "Earlier on in your school life an incident was recorded in which you had a brush with the law. This was not put on your permanent record. Do you recall what this was?"

"There was a malfunction with a prank and someone died." Yellow eyes narrowed at the blond, and he had a suspicion that the man was a Hybrid for a few seconds before almost physically shook it from his mind. No Hybrid would do this. Marluxia had been extreme, but even he didn't give off the level of malevolence this old man did. No. This man was human. Very, very human.

"That's a very broad way of stating the events," he mused, his voice much like crumbling steel. Nothing could shake it but age. "I was under the impression from the report that you lynched him. That is, after all, what your confession states." Demyx remained silent. "Now, don't take this too seriously, Mr. Mizuchi. It's common knowledge that you were just covering for..." He glanced down at the papers, "Hayner Sasaki.

"You see, before he died Zachary was reported to be the weakest link of a group of Hybrids suspected of insurgent behavior. However, before we could apprehend him for questioning you and Mr. Sasaki had your 'accident' and the squad was left with nothing." Demyx suddenly wondered what the man meant by "Squad," and it made him uneasy. Were there more people questioning students? Was he referring to the parents patrolling the school? "But if we were to know just one more name from this group, this 'AVALANCHE,' then we can take them down from the inside. Then your record," he held up the manilla folder, which Demyx could now see very clearly had his name on it, "along with Hayner Sasaki's," another folder was held, this much thinner with a single little note sticking out the side, "and Zexion Kisaragi's will be cleared of all transgressions." Demyx's eyes widened as a third folder was dropped on the desk. It wasn't very thick, but from the side protruded the edges of many sticky notes. This made him nervous.

"This group you have been consorting with is very dangerous, Mr. Mizuchi. They put the safety of the entire country at risk. Now, the whole matter is very simple. You and your boyfriend- and Mr. Sasaki of course- will go free without a hitch. You will pass Go, you will collect two-hundred hypothetical dollars- the whole nine yards." He spoke this slowly, as if he were trying to project safety and calm. "But before that I need a name. Someone connected to- or is a part of- AVALANCHE. You give me that name and we won't be bothering you any more."

Demyx could read subtext. If he gave this man a name they would leave him, his friends, and his family alone. But which name to give? People he'd met were Larxene, Sora, Luxord, Xion- three of them family members. But there were more names to give than that. Roxas- or Ventus Vanitas Crescent. That would probably have too many side-effects. Through him they could find Lucrecia, the absent doctor. The name mentioned in whispers. The woman who had helped save his mother's life.

But there was one they already had- Demyx knew. One that wouldn't put anyone in danger. "Marluxia Kando."

At the words he expected the old man to give him that look- the one that said he knew he was pulling his leg. No such expression arrived. Instead, he pulled out a small stack of papers, maybe five or six sheets thick. It was then that Demyx realized that the man must have some sort of briefcase at his feet. He couldn't be pulling them out of thin air. He rifled through these papers, examining them closely before turning to another page. Long minutes passed at a snail's pace before the man spoke again.

"I'm not finding that name on this list, Mr. Mizuchi."

Startled, Demyx's face screwed up in confusion. "What kind of list is that?"

"A list of suspects," he replied. "Hybrids and humans in the area that have been cited for anti-social behavioral patterns. Violent tendencies."

There was a pause. "Am I on there?"

"Yes, along with your entire family."

A moment of silence followed this revelation, along with a serious sense of error. "So you don't recognize the name?"

"Marluxia? No. Should I?"

"He's the one everyone thinks shot the Chairman."

The man fixed him with a look, his piercing gaze raging through Demyx. It felt as if his mind was being torn apart and laid bare at his feet, but he wasn't allowed to see. Only this stranger would be privy to his secrets. But just as his nerves began to take over he reminded himself that reading minds is impossible. Zexion would say that it was silly to think the old man could. If he could read minds then he wouldn't have to interrogate the boy.

"What do you know?"

Demyx leaned forward. "I was in one of the front-most rows when the Chairman was shot. Got a pretty good look at what really happened," he mused, placing his elbows on the table. It was strange, repeating his nightmares to a man he was probably supposed to keep quiet from. But maybe this would get the information in the right circles. "Marluxia didn't shoot him. The bullet wound was in the back of his head, and they were face to face. When the power went out the men surrounding the stage- the guards- started shooting, and from what I can tell Marluxia fired four shots. One per guard. They hit leg, leg, arm, and leg in that order from right to left."

"But what about Kando? How do you know him?"

Demyx spared the man a puzzled look. "That's what confuses me. You said my family was on there, right?"

"So he's your cousin?" When he didn't receive a response he tried again. "Uncle?"

"Sir, he's my brother-in-law."

The man scoffed. "That's enough of that, boy. Give me a real name."

"But-" Demyx choked. "That is a real name!"

"No need to be defensive. I'm sure it's a well-rehearsed story."

"I'm serious!" When the man continued his disbelief, Demyx felt the sudden urge to validate his claim, though he knew it could have horrible consequences. "His name is Marluxia Kando. He's in his mid to upper twenties, part human, part Hybrid mix, and has spiky skin follicles instead of hair." Before long, Demyx was out of his chair and pacing, relating the little nuances to the man. "He likes salad, but plays with it on his plate. Unusually good with computers. Never stops talking about equality and junk. Gives you the stink eye what you're not looking. And," he stopped pacing to glare at the man on the other side of the desk, "earlier this year he married my sister, Larxene. They're expecting a baby."

Heaving a great sigh, the old man massaged the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Mr. Mizuchi, according to your file you don't have a sister."

"Yes I do. She's adopted."

Piercing eyes glared up at the blond."If you had a sibling, adopted or otherwise, they would be in your file." Sharp, to the point, biting. This man was not to be trifled with. But it was getting a little annoying that the man wasn't complying with what he saw to be reason.

"With all do respect, sir," he blond snapped, hand lancing onto the chair he'd been seated in with hope that it would calm him. It didn't. "I know whether or not I have a sister. And you, some guy from some branch of the government, probably, won't be telling me otherwise. Your information is flawed."

Demyx was surprised when the man didn't stop him when he made for the door, or when he yanked it open and stormed out. No one pulled him aside in the halls. Mr. Saïx didn't make any comments when he walked in a good half an hour late to English class. Zexion didn't even nudge his hand away when he laced their fingers beneath the table. And after school Zexion didn't say anything as

Demyx stopped by the front doors just as he got out, beckoning the Nekojin into the car.

…

It began with a heated kiss. No words were exchanged; only a sense of urgency as their tongues entwined. No one was home, and for this Demyx was grateful. There was no mother to walk in on a moment, or a father to suddenly step out of the bathroom to check on his son. Before long, however, such thoughts were impossible as the Nekojin's lips left him breathless and he moved on to other pastures. First he buried his face in the boy's hair, clutching his boyfriend close to him. Then his neck, which was softer than ever. The light dusting of fur that covered his skin smelled sweet, and he nuzzled against it for a bit.

Pressing the younger boy to the bed, the blond rushed to remove their shirts, only to rip one of his boyfriend's buttons. It flew across the room, ignored, to roll across the floor and settle beneath a dresser. There is sat, a little green button, awaiting the boy's wandering fingers to claim it from the hardwood. But no such attention came as all eyes were on developing muscles hardened from Mako, piercings, and swollen lips.

Across the room, Zexion had taken control, shoving the blond to the bed. His fingers worked at the snaps of the boy's jeans, and when they were open padded fingers stole beneath plain boxers to grasp at the thick length of skin beneath. It pulsed in his hands: long, musky, and pale with a reddish-brown tip leaking precum. The Nekojin's lips descended, capturing the tip with his tongue, dragging it up from the base to the head, then teasing the tip. Jean-clad hips bucked up at the sensation as Demyx let loose a heady groan as the unusual texture grasped at his skin with every light touch. It was almost painful.

Behind him, Zexion's tail twitched. The boy considered the sounds his boyfriend was making. Reveled in them. Memorized their every lilt. He sucked at the tip of the boy's erection, which prompted less of a reaction but continued anyway as sticking with his tongue for too long would rub the older boy raw, and that would not do. Several minutes passed like this, and all the while Zexion worked at their clothes in a competition with himself not to stop sucking his boyfriend off. First Demyx's shoes and pants, then his socks. His underwear came soon after. When that was done he worked on his own.

The shoes were tricky. At first he attempted just to bend over and untie them, but he almost dropped Demyx from his mouth. Instead, he propped the leg up against the bed and undid them that way. Soon they were chucked across the room and he could toe his socks off. His pants came next, then his boxers. Those were first discarded on the floor, and on second thought he kicked them over to his shoes.

When they were both naked, he finally stopped sucking to ask, "Where do you keep your condoms?"

In his euphoria the best Demyx could do was point at his dresser.

Wandering over to the piece of furniture, Zexion began to scavenge through the drawers. Nothing was found in the first two, and the third wasn't promising either. Eventually, beneath a pair of boxers in the boy's four drawer, there was a glimmer of hope. A small, unassuming box without any labels. When Zexion pried it open there they were- a small bundle of condoms and four small packets of one-time-use lubrication.

Making his way back to the bed, Zexion leaped atop the mattress, legs on either side of his boyfriend. Hands grasped at his shoulders. Sitting up, Demyx planted a kiss hard against the Nekojin's lips and the younger boy ripped open a foil packet and rolled a condom over his erection. Without recent practice the action nearly stung, and he fought a gasp.

Coating the boy's penis with the generous supply from the packet, Zexion directed it inside him. It slid in easily, his muscles completely relaxed having become accustomed to the sensation. Once all the way down he rolled his hips, prompting a gasp from the teen beneath him. "Like that?" he teased, repeating the movement.

"Yeah," the blond replied, hands moving down to clutch at his boyfriend's buttocks. His tail twitched with satisfaction at this. It seemed to have been ages since they'd been together, connected like they were. Demyx didn't know how much he'd missed it until that moment. The sensation was addicting beyond words.

Zexion continued rolling his hips, gesturing occasionally for the other teen to respond in his own way as his hand traveled to his groin, stroking it to hardness. Encouragement, in a sense. Rhythm slowly began to build, as did the heat in their stomachs. Soon Zexion's movements were becoming more erratic, leaving the bed a squeaking mess beneath them as the blond egged him on. It was long after that they were cumming. First was Demyx, who clutched at the comforter with eager apprehension as it hit, then writhing in ecstasy. A good minute later, Zexion followed, collapsing beside his boyfriend with an exhausted grin gracing his features, tail curling and uncurling beside him.

"What made you come with me?" Demyx asked after their breath had slowed and the heated atmosphere seemed to pass. "We're not supposed to see each other, remember? That was your rule."

The grin dropped from the Nekojin's face. "We needed this, Demyx," he replied evenly. "Straining any kind of bond in the first year, mated or not, isn't a good idea."

"That doesn't mean you had to come with me."

"I missed you."

A short pause followed this. "What?"

"I'm not saying it again," the younger boy scoffed.

Demyx grinned. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

…

"Larxene's due soon." Xion's voice caught her son off guard. He'd just entered the living room in pursuit of the kitchen, and he hadn't expected the woman to be there, delicate as ever in her wheelchair. Navi-earrings dangled from her earlobes. "She a day late, but the doctor isn't worried yet."

"That's... great." Demyx tried his best not to sound bitter, but after his time spent in the interrogation room he didn't have it in him to sound convincing. He really didn't know what to think. Was the man telling the truth? That would mean Larxene had never been adopted in the first place. But was Xion aware of this?

"She wants you there, you know," she informed him, verbally disapproving of his tone. "And Zexion. Could you give him a 'Hello' for me? And there are some muffins on the counter for the both of you, too. Take a plate up when you two are hungry." The blond physically flinched, then slowly turned his eyes to where his mother sat oh-so-innocently in front of the television where Saturday morning cartoons played.

Women. They are Queens and the house is their spymaster. But did she know?

Following his mother's request, Demyx took up a plate of muffins for his boyfriend and himself. He couldn't ask his mother for that kind of information. She was involved too much as it was. Questions would have to be directed at Luxord, who had chosen to keep quiet over something so large. As he made his way up the stairs, he glanced backwards. Next to the couch, settled in her wheelchair, Xion was fiddling with her earring.

"When will Dad be home today?"

The woman shrugged. "Around nine or so. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Never mind." If the few seconds it took to say those words Demyx had decided he didn't need to know. It didn't matter if Larxene wasn't his sister. Things were bigger than that right then.

…

The rest of the week passed as they had before the infiltration. Demyx's lunches were spent on the grass with the Hybrids. P.E. consisted of stretches and running with Zexion. English was accompanied by fingers tangling beneath the desk. The parents that lined the hallways would occasionally give them the stink eye, but aside from this they were left in peace. No laws were broken. No rules were violated. The unofficial guards had no justification for approaching them.

To Demyx this was strange. He'd expected some sort of verbal lashing in the first few hours of their relationship being public- to them, at least. However none came and the boy was at a bit of a loss. All he could do was smile.

Friday had gone much the same as the other days. Eyes avoided their in the halls. Parents and teachers alike ignored them. The old man didn't call Demyx into the office.

Friday was also a day his mother spent at physical therapy, and when he got home his father had news.

"We're being put under surveillance," Luxord informed the blond youth over microwave TV dinners. As cliché as it was, the two were utterly useless without Xion as far as meals were concerned. Forever hopeless bachelors at heart. "I was informed at work that our family is under suspicion. Video only- no sound bugs. Not the interior or anything- just our front and back yard. They'll be setting up tomorrow morning."

Curious, Demyx screwed up his eyes. They should have been left alone. "Maybe they think we agree with Marluxia or something."

Luxord scoffed. "Not possible." At these words Demyx rethought his decision not to ask Luxord about Larxene. But it looked as if he'd get his answer either way.

"Why not? We are related."

"Not necessarily."

Demyx sighed. "Well, he is just a in-law, but there's always sis. That black-out during the press-conference has Larxene written all over it. Her fingerprints must have been all over the scene."

"They wouldn't have traced it back to us, Demyx."

"And why not?" the boy hissed, glancing up from his food to stare his father in the eye. "She's part of the family- unless there's something you're not telling me."

Luxord's face hardened. "There's nothing to tell."

"How long have you had your hand in their affairs, Dad?"

Suddenly, the man stood from his seat, sending the chair to the floor. He quickly strode from the room, not bothering to look up. It was then that Demyx's questions had been answered. Next, the boy tried to decide which conclusion was more disturbing. That his father had been lying to him his entire life, as possible Xion as well, or that Larxene didn't exist; illegal in every sense of the word.

…

Long after the conversation, in the budding hours of Saturday, November the twenty-seventh, Demyx awoke to a gentle _tap, tap, tap_ on his window. Groaning, the blond turned his eyes to his bedside table where his clock read three in the morning. Too late- or early- for guests. It was probably Zexion.

He idly wondered why the Nekojin would be visiting him this late before entertaining the possibility that it was Pence, or someone else he used to hang out with. Someone who could operate without having to face the town's Hybrid curfew. But somewhere inside him something told him it was Zexion, and he didn't argue with it.  
The window sill was comparable to ice, warning of the frigid temperatures just beyond. Ignoring this, the blond forced the window open. Halfway up it stuck. Letting it drop back down, the boy tried again, only for it to jamb. He hit it once or twice in a hope it would open, and it only fell down again. Growing tired, he forced his fingers beneath and shoved up hard. It groaned with the movement before giving way. Satisfied at this, the boy stuck his head out the window and stared down into his back yard.

"Zexion!" he called as quietly as he could. "What are you doing here!"

"I'm coming up." The Nekojin's reply was not expected and only served to puzzle the blond. But when the younger boy began to back away from the house it occurred to him that his boyfriend was planning to jump from the ground into his second story bedroom.

Thoroughly confused, Demyx fixed the boy with a look. "You've got to be kidding." He watched as, taking a running start, Zexion launched himself at the house. Letting out a squeak when the boy held even with him for a bit, the blond had a split second to appreciate just how spectacular Hybrids could be before he had to lunge forward and grab the boy by the wrists before he fell. "You've got to be _kidding_!" he hissed again, more surprised than anything. He surged back, tugging the smaller boy up and onto the sill before losing his grip and stumbling back.

There was something oddly familiar about the way Zexion dropped to the floor beneath Demyx's bedroom window. Was it memories of days passed? The familiarity of having done it himself? No. It was the curve of the Nekojin's torso, even as he curled into a ball beneath the sill, almost as if in pain. A quick check of the boy's body showed there were no wounds, so the blond quickly closed the window and drew the curtains.

"They got us," Zexion was whispering, tears trailing down his face as he no doubt mentally recounted whatever experience he'd just gone through. "They got a warrant and- and they came into the house. The Calm isn't coming fast enough."

"The Calm- what are you-"

"Can I stay here for a bit?"

"Zexion, we're being put under surveillance. I don't think-"

"Then I'll stay inside. Please?"

The entire thing happened so quickly Demyx didn't have a chance to think it over. Maybe if he had thought it through he would have been able to come up with a better solution. But with video cameras being installed in a matter of hours and with no other place to hide Zexion there was nothing else to do. At a loss, the boys worked to close the window before settling down the sleep. When the Nekojin began to shiver in his arms, Demyx drew the smaller boy closer. Aside from this he didn't acknowledge it. With all that was going on he had nothing to say. Everything was flying right over his head, and he really didn't know what to do. He only hoped it would all blow over without his influence.

…

"_I saw the conference. You must have been terrified._" Riku's call on the thirtieth was more than a surprise. But it had been months since Demyx had talked to the boy, and he should have expected the call long before then. "_Are you okay?_"

A stalling moment had arrived. Demyx contemplated telling the boy everything. The press conference, losing his camera, Zexion, being watched, and even Larxene. Riku hadn't been his friend for long- in fact, a year before they had barely been acquaintances, fi that. The older boy, away at college, had been the furthest thing from his mind since he left. If it weren't for their double date to the fair and their mutual teasing during P.E. he doubted the boy would have ever been on his radar at all.

Oddly enough, Demyx only had more questions appear when he received the call. Why was Riku calling now, nearly an entire month after the conference, to ask about it? Was he in on the situation? Did Sora bring him into the fold? Was Sora in the fold in the first place?

He tried to shake it off. The entire thing was turning him into some kind of jumpy paranoid kid. He idly wondered what had happened to his carefree, nearly devil-may-care attitude from before, but brushed it off. It came with the territory. If he didn't look into everything he did and said now mistakes would be made. There was a good chance that his volunteering of Marluxia's name and background- along with that of his sister- in the interrogation had brought to light some disturbing facts about his family, through the government's eyes. And here he was a month later receiving a call from Riku, who attended school on a government scholarship.

The entire thing was fishy, and the younger boy wanted to say as much.

Allowing himself a moment to calm down, the blond considered his response. "I'm fine. It's been over a month. You could say the terror has worn off." Another pause. "The conference is pretty old news. What makes you bring it up?" Xion wheeled into the living room, then, offering Demyx a cookie. The woman had taken to baking sweets lately, as if to fill the time. He accepted the confection, offering her a strained smile in thanks. Grinning back, she spun around and made her way back into the kitchen, allowing the boy his unspoken request for privacy. He nibbled on the sweet and his friend spoke.

"_The newspaper club did an article on it. Apparently some rumors are getting around online, as well as leaked photos of the scene._" He paused. "_What are you eating?_"

Demyx nearly choked, by managed to swallow after a bit of difficulty. "Cookie. Go on."

"_Anyway, the article was all about this big conspiracy that the chairman hadn't been shot by the 'unidentified Hybrid.' Instead, all considered, only his bodyguards could have taken him out. About halfway through, though..._" Riku paused, though it was beyond Demyx as to why. A college newspaper had picked up the story? Shouldn't it have gotten pulled before hitting the printer? "_About halfway through reading the article I looked at one of the photos. To be frank it looks like your work._"

The blond shrugged, though he knew the man couldn't see the movement. "What do you know? One of the photographers takes photos like I do."

"_Don't play dumb, Demyx_," Riku hissed. "_What's been going on? Is Sora safe?_"

Taken aback, it then occurred to the boy just why his friend had called.

"Yeah," he replied evenly. "As far as I know Sora's doing just fine. He's attending school and everything. Should be protected since he's half human, if only for a while. Things seem to be escalating, but the Calm should be coming soon."

"_The Calm? What's that?_"

"You know what?" Demyx laughed. "I really don't know. I just know it sounds really nice right about now."

…

**End Notes: First of all, I would like to apologize for the lateness. Three things stood between me and this chapter's completion: internal bleeding in my left-hand pointer finger, inability to pay the electricity bill, and debilitating stomach pains. Second, and more importantly, this story is almost done! The next chapter shall be the last. But anyway, here's your preview.**

_Intoxicating. That was the only real way to describe how the Nekojin smelled. Sweet, but spicy with just a hint of something savory beneath the concoction of emotions- desires, luxuries, necessities- that flooded Demyx's senses. Somewhere in the back of his head a voice was whispering, "This is eternity. You're just a kid. You're not ready for this kind of decision."_

_But Demyx was ready. He'd been ready for a while, now. Almost a year, and he'd been so sure of his decision that sometimes it hurt. Love has a way of doing that to people._

**Quiz: Who was interrogating Demyx?**

**Bonus Question: Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for?**

**Chapter Eleven Winner(s): No one. Insert tears here.**

**Reviews remind me that this fic exists. No joke. Between debilitating stomach pains, vocal practices, registering for school, and looking for a job I just don't have the drive to sit down and write these days.**

**Love,**

**Besieged Infection**


	13. to December of 2010

**Return**

**A story by Besieged Infection**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

**…**

**Chapter Thirteen: December of 2010**

**…**

The Exception Laws XIII

_**Signs designated by the city must be posted on a Hybrid's front door listing occupations, names, and previous discrepancies with the law.**_

**…**

December first, Demyx was faced with something that he found very odd when he came home. It was a situation he had never considered.

"It's not my fault!" Zexion defended, curled up much like a cat on the ground. This confused the blond. He saw nothing wrong. His boyfriend's tail and ears didn't help the illusion, instead cementing the idea deep in the blond's mind, but this was nothing new. What could the younger boy be talking about? With an armful of homework, the blond simply stood in his room's doorway. It was then that the younger boy padded over to him on all fours, tail waving back and forth in his wake. It was then that Demyx realized just what might be going on.

"Zexion," he began, almost in shock. "You can't walk, can you?"

The boy shook his head.

"Is this normal?"

"Yeah."

A long, bitter silence passed after this, and Demyx's eyes were drawn to the boy's structure. He noticed the boy's spine was curved a bit more than it should have been. Zexion's form seemed more relaxed as he was, as well. Every bone seemed to settle into the position the boy was in, on all fours in front of him.

And his big, blue eyes seemed worried, but just a touch more at ease than usual.

It was awkward, to say the least. Demyx felt just a touch like a little Welsh boy who had just been caught doing something _bad_ with an animal, except the animal could consent and walk on two feet. Sometimes. Least to say, the young man was having some issues with the whole thing.

"See, since I've been unable to go outside I've missed a few physical therapy appointments. Something that's not quite common knowledge is that Hybrids with the DNA of four-legged animals have bodies aren't made for human walking."

"Say what?"

"Our bone structure is- hey!" Zexion frowned. What's with that look?"

Demyx, working around his horror-struck expression, managed a short, sweet, "Simple. I'm dating a cat. A kitty cat."

Silence.

"And he can't dance-dance-dance."

Zexion rolled his eyes.

**…**

December tenth dawned bright and snowy, but something of importance was that Demyx was in his room long after dark had fallen. He lay in bed with Zexion, who was staring at the ceiling almost as if with hope that it would come alive and eat him.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"The first thing I'm going to do when I get settled back home is schedule some physical therapy."

Fixing the boy with a look, Demyx tried to make a connection in his head. "For your walking?"

The Nekojin nodded.

"Why?" When this question seemed to confuse the shorter boy, Demyx continued. "Your body isn't made for it, right?"

"Doesn't matter if my body is made for walking like a cat," Zexion informed him. "I live like a human. That should be incentive enough. When I feel like walking like a cat, I'll do that. When I want to walk on two feet I want to be able to do it."

"But why-"

"The toilet wasn't designed with cats in mind, Demyx."

Demyx, wisely, did not comment.

**…**

Later that night, Zexion dropped a bombshell.

"I'm having my heat soon."

The words were said simply and without climax. There was no trembling voice to betray how uneasy he was, or high pitch to reveal his fear. Instead it was a dull, even tone, and because of this Demyx didn't quite understand what was going on at first. And this brings us to the seven stages of Demyx.

**First step: Confusion.**

The blond blinked. "Wait, what?"

"My heat," Zexion replied. "You may remember it from last December." Demyx sputtered.

**Second step: Denial.**

"But that's not possible," he gasped.

Fixing the boy with a look, the Nekojin scoffed. "You're kidding, right? It's an annual thing, like a birthday or an anniversary. You think it won't come back just because it's inconvenient?"

**Third step: Willingness to listen.**

"Well, I guess- yeah... I guess... You're right."

Zexion rolled his eyes; a motion he'd been doing a lot of lately. "Well, duh. Anyway, we have a few options laid out before us. The first is mating-"

**Fourth step: More denial.**

"Oh no we don't!" the blond yipped, terrified of the idea itself. "That's- that's like marriage! We'd need to think about it for a hell of a lot longer than that! Marriage isn't some spur of the moment thing that you do on a whim just because it's i_convenient!_/i"

Zexion glared. "Then what do you suggest?"

**Fifth step: Bargaining**

"How about we shove you in the closet and leave it at that?"

"Well aren't you romantic?" Zexion snapped. "If we're waiting it out I'll need an IV to keep me hydrated since I won't be able to ingest anything."

**Sixth step: More confusion.**

"Where do we get an IV?"

"We have a few at my place."

**Seventh step: Thinly veiled Sarcasm. AKA: He'll do anything to make you shut up so he can get the Hell out of there. Demyx can't handle this shit.**

"So we're gonna get you some, is that right?"

"Sounds about right."

"Zexion, this house is under external video surveillance."

"Which is why you're going, not me."

"Do you have any idea how much I hate you right now?

**…**

Two days later, on a Sunday, Demyx couldn't help but think just how wrong it was to approach Zexion's house when no one was there.

No Zexion leading him through halls, no evasive father-of-the-boyfriend lurking in dark corners and possible basements. No smell of cookies wafting through the neighborhood.

No Helen telling him everything would be all-right before running off to make poisonous cookies and tell people they didn't matter. (He idly considered the possibility that one year she would place herself on "Santa Doesn't Exist" duty. She'd certainly be good at it. "Santa doesn't exist!" she'd say to some random child who had thrown an egg at her door. "Oh- don't cry. It's all going to be okay, honey. Here- have a cookie!" Then she'd give the kid a Mako-laced cookie and watch them have seizures on the floor with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. And although this was a highly exaggerated form of events, seeing as she would never give a human Mako, let alone a small child, it still terrified him.)

Wiping this thought from his head, Demyx circled the house until he faced Zexion's window. Climbing the piping along the side of the house to the window, he pressed a palm against the glass and pushed upwards. It slid open easy until a point, stalling halfway up and sticking there. Satisfied that it wasn't going anywhere, Demyx squeezed in, suddenly so much more thankful for the effect of Mako in his veins. Gone was the baby-fat that clung to everything, and in its place was a solid line of lithe muscle. It helped with things he never expected. Things like breaking into his boyfriend's house.

Once safely inside, the boy glanced around. Fishing in his pocket, he brought out a list. At the top read, "Clothes: labeled dresser in room."

"We couldn't get them sooner?" Demyx sighed, glancing around the room for the aforementioned dresser. Locating the wooden monstrosity- and it was a monstrosity, being that shade of brilliant bubblegum pink, which was no doubt Helen's doing and the boy, wondered just how he never noticed it before- he read the labels. From top to bottom they read: _hats, shirts, pants, pants, underwear_. To be sure he hadn't read the same label twice; Demyx opened both the drawers labeled _pants_. Yup. Pants.

Two pairs of pants were shoved into his backpack, along with three shirts and two hats. Peering at the label for underwear, Demyx thought for a second. How many pairs of underwear? Space was limited, but Zexion might not want to re-wear boxers, even though he may be willing to work with wearing the same pants over and over again.

In the end he grabbed four pair, hoping that the situation would settle down soon but not wanting to be caught unaware.

Nabbing the boy's ID card from the desk and shoving it between the pants, he moved on to pillows. Navigating the interior of the house thanks to a small map Zexion had managed to draw on the corner of the paper, Demyx successfully located more than ten pillows, which he placed in a vacuum bag, which he sealed shut and proceeded to jump on for about an hour to get the air out. Up, down, up, down. Make sure not to wear shoes. Don't land on the zipper- it doesn't like feet.

All in all, fun, but exhausting.

Now came the slightly disturbing part.

The basement.

Demyx did not like basements.

**…**

Zexion's heat began on the fourteenth with what he had figured would be the usual drill for the rest of his life. Itching, all over his body, then the chills that would wrack his form from head to toe until he was in a dead sweat. He knew he had minutes before he lost his sanity. Everything had already been set up in the closet, as much as Zexion dreaded it, and within seconds he was at the door, clawing at the handle and forcing it open.

The first thing the boy did was grab the IV and force it into his arm with the ease that years of practice. It was thinner than the needles used for Mako injections, thankfully, and went in clean as opposed to the massaging and prodding that he usually dealt with. It was almost a relief, and for a second the Nekojin stared at where the needle prodded through his skin in confusion. Where was the blood? Where was the initial pain? Did the size of the needle really matter?

But he couldn't dwell on it forever, and before long he was working with the restraints for his legs. They had been nailed to the wall, buried deep in a stud, and fastened around his ankles. The leather was soft, and unusually flexible. Were they his mother's?

He didn't want to think about that.

In an attempt to get the thought out of his head, he tied the makeshift torso-brace- a belt nailed into the same stud- around his waist, shortly followed by his left wrist. Preparing himself, his free arm reached out to close the door. When the knob was out of his reach he panicked. Taking a few deep breathes didn't help; they only itched and already began to reek of his pheromones. It was a metaphorical slap in the face if there ever was one. Thinking fast, he pressed hard against the inside of the door on the flat area just beside the hinges. Slowly, the door creaked closed. It seemed like eternity, waiting for the door, but eventually the knob was close enough to grab.

And everything was black.

The pillows itched.

But it was not a moment to panic. Instead, he waited for his night vision to kick in and used it to affix his right wrist. And from there he could only wait. And yet, he didn't dread it. Time would pass quickly while he was in heat. He was practically asleep for the whole thing, anyway. The entire thing wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. He'd survived it once, he'd survive it again.

These lies were his comfort in the moments before the first true wave of heat hit, and then everything was spinning. His body seemed to be on fire, and his breath came in pants. There wasn't enough oxygen! He needed water! Every part of his burned and itched and sprang to life with every brush against cotton. Excruciating pleasure, blissful pain- he couldn't tell which it was. He just needed. With every part of his being he needed.

Slowly his sanity slipped away from him, and everything was sensation. There was no controlling the heat. There was only satisfying or surviving it.

In the first wave, Zexion didn't know if he could handle the latter for a second time.

**…**

When Demyx arrived home he didn't know what to think aside from, "Thank God it's not Friday." Immediately when he walked into the house he nearly choked on the pink fog that clouded his brain. He could just barely manage the hope that his parents weren't home to smell it yet. He wondered idly if he could handle himself in the face of the Nekojin in his closet, in the first burst of heat and in a committed relationship with him.

Hopefully the boy had made it to the closet.

Almost immediately Demyx raced up the stairs and to his room, suddenly afraid that Zexion hadn't made it to the closet at all. That would be terrible. The blond wasn't ready for the kind of commitment!

But if the smaller boy offered him sex he wouldn't be able to turn him down.

Face to face with his bedroom door, Demyx considered the pluses and minuses of actually going inside. He could always air out the rest of the house and sleep on the couch for a week. But then who would change Zexion's IV? The Easter bunny? Santa? Xion? She couldn't even make it up the stairs!

Steeling himself for the worst, he threw open the door and stepped inside.

A wave of pheromones assaulted him, but nothing else of note actually happened. He kept his eyes clenched shut anyway. Eventually, when nothing had continued to happen for a good five or so minutes he peeked beneath his lashes into the room. Empty. Heaving a sigh of relief, he glanced over to the closet. Closed. He walked over and pressed an ear to it.

Nothing.

Then a long, drawn out, incredibly _exciting_ moan.

Demyx clenched his eyes and willed the next few days to pass quickly, along with his erection.

Sadly, neither complied.

**…**

On the sixteenth of December it began snowing at noon. Heavy, fat flakes drifted to the ground and clung to the pavement, prompting street sweepers to hit the roads with vigor. It was on this day that Demyx was called back into the room where the man with piercing eyes sat just where he'd left him. When he arrived this second time the old man was looking over what he could only imagine was a revised version of the list he'd been reading during Demyx's previous visit. No words were spoken when the teen entered, nor when he sat down. A heavy silence settled over the pair, and the blond was soon shifting in his seat. After about ten minutes of this, Demyx choked out the beginnings of a question. "Sir-"

"Please, call me Mr. Xehanort," the man warmly informed him. The effect fell short however and instead of putting him at ease the blond found himself on edge.

"Mr. Xehanort," he quietly began, almost tripping over the strange syllables. "Isn't there a reason I was called down here?"

The man fidgeted with the papers a bit more before answering. "Yes, there is." These words, usually chased by some other line, were left to rot in the spoiling atmosphere.

Demyx nervously played with the hem of his shirt. "Sir?"

"Are you aware of the current affairs pending with the Committee?"

Confusion, among other things, painted the boy's face. "The Committee, sir?"

"The Hybrid Committee."

"No, sir."

Mr. Xehanort placed one pile of papers beside another, inched them closer, and shuffled them. "Do you feign ignorance as to the Committee's inner workings?"

The directness of the question was appalling. Demyx knew a masked implication when he heard one, and this accusation put no happy images before it. "You can't expect me to feign ignorance about something I don't know about."

"Come now, Demyx." The use of his first name appalled the blond, and the old man's grin wasn't any more reassuring. "We're all friends here. There's no logic in protecting those who break the law."

Eyes narrowing, Demyx leveled a glare at his interrogator. "Just what are you saying here?"

Mr. Xehanort's grin dropped. "Have you ever been to a party with more than twelve Hybrids?" This comment was met with silence. "Have you ever asked Zexion if he was carrying his identification card when he came over to your house? Or when you were on a date?" No response. "Do you realize just what that card is?"

Demyx shrugged. "Identification?"

"A _tracking_ device, Mr. Mizuchi." Demyx's could feel his heart rise into his throat, but it seemed to drop into his stomach at the same time. It was silly. How could his heart be two places at once? "Tell me, just what were you doing at the Hybrid's house?" There was the same look from earlier- the expectant grin. Demyx imagined that another teenager would have blurted out some half-formed lie that wouldn't hold up beneath the man, but that wouldn't have lasted long. "What could you possibly need his ID card for?"

Demyx bristled. "Why shouldn't I get some of his stuff? People in that neighborhood don't like Hybrids. Have you seen their front door? It's solid metal, bit it has a bunch of dents in it. Some of those are actually bullet holes. His stuff wouldn't be safe there for long if they weren't there."

"Things can be replaced."

"Memories attached to them can't."

The man's grin grew. "I can imagine a great many things could hold memories, then. Stuffed animals, blankets, and even fresh needles or identification cards."

Demyx glared. "So you bugged the place."

"Of course!" Mr. Xehanort drawled, appearing to the teen to be bored of the conversation. It was perhaps the first real emotion he'd seen the man portray. "It wouldn't be much of a trap if it wasn't."

"What do you even _want_?"

"He's in your closet. Am I right?"

This was when Demyx ran out of words.

**…**

Walking into his room on the seventeenth had begun with news. A press conference for the Exceptions Committee would be held on the following Monday. It would no doubt enthrall Zexion, even in his current state. But when he stepped into the room, braced for the wave of pheromones that would overwhelm his consciousness and leave him a babbling idiot, he was shocked to find that there was no such wave. Instead, there was a gentler lull of something subtle.

A quick sweep of the house provided that no one was at home. Xion wouldn't be back from physical therapy with Ms. Crescent for another two hours, and Luxord was at work until she came home.

Finally, Demyx threw open the closet.

There was Zexion, restrained and surrounded by pillows. He looked paler than usual. Three days of no food or sunlight with only an IV for nourishment had taken their toll. The boy looked shaken, at the very least. Periwinkle hair was plastered to his forehead, and when he went to meet his eyes he found the boy to be sleeping. For a moment it occurred to Demyx that he might be dead, but when he placed a finger beneath the boy's nose he was still breathing. Reaching for his gloves, the blond moved to shake the boy away, only to pause. While unconscious Zexion wouldn't produce pheromones.

He couldn't miss this chance. And so he sat down, watching Zexion sleep for what seemed to be the millionth time.

A very slight jawline and a pointed nose were his main features, though they were overshadowed by his eyes which, though closed, were bruised with a lack of proper sleep. Sweat had stained everything the boy wore, and it occurred to Demyx that the boy would want to change when he woke from his stupor. Then they would go about life as usual, until they eventually got into some big fight when they didn't have the resistance keeping them together, or when they moved away, or one of them went to college. Then they would break up and life would be as he knew it before Zexion had happened.

That was about when it really hit Demyx.

He didn't want to break up with Zexion. Ever.

Time seemed to slow for the teen, and he considered the possibility of a future with the Nekojin. Continuing life together with him for the rest of their days. And in that moment that was stretching into forever and eternity he wanted nothing more than to be together with the young man standing tied up in his closet.

As bad as that sounded.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was on his feet, undoing all the restraints on the boy. It was then that Zexion began to stir, mumbling into his shoulder as he hoisted him onto his shoulder and made his way towards the bed. Only one word could be made out. "Demyx-?"

Gently setting the boy on the spread, the blond silenced him with a soft kiss. Soon there was another, and another, and within seconds the Nekojin was kissing him back with fervor. All of him burned for the shorter boy, and every brush of skin magnified everything until the world was a blur.

Soon he couldn't tell the ceiling from the floor, and all the mattered was Zexion. Kissing him, touching him, and whispering words that weren't properly formed in his ear like pillow talk.

And that's all that really mattered.

**…**

The twentieth arrived.

"_Please welcome to the board Dr. Lucrecia Crescent."_

Demyx looked up at the television screen, where none other than Ms. Crescent took the stage with a winning smile. "Well would you look at that?" Xion mused from Demyx's side. "Ms. Crescent is on the board!"

"_It is a privilege and an honor to be undertaking the title of Chairwoman of the Exceptions Committee. I must take into consideration the actions of the past, and act on what would be best for the people. However, it has recently come to my attention that-"_

**…**

"_I would like to thank everyone who participated with me in the Project for Change. It is at this time that social boundaries must be challenged, and with this in mind we must revolutionize our thinking-"_

"_-The Exception Laws are cruel and are imposed without reason-"_

"_-from this time forward are to be __removed from use-"_

**…**

"Not fair!" Riku complained. "While I was off at college you guys were busy making history! No wonder Sora never had time to talk on the phone."

Demyx scoffed. "What else were we supposed to do? While you've been off at college we needed a distraction from the lack of the Great and Almighty Presence of King Riku. It just so happened that we repealed thirteen laws along the way."

"It's not hard, changing the world and all that Jazz," Sora agreed, butting his head against his boyfriend's chin. The two were cuddled together very comfortably on the couch beside Naminé and Kairi, who were just as familiar with each other as the boys. On the loveseat Zexion lay across Demyx's lap, the blond petting his hair and ears with gentle strokes. His fingers played with the strands, comparing the periwinkle with his tanned skin. And something was alight deep in those green eyes, leaving the smaller boy curious as to what it meant.

The party was in full swing around them, despite it being a good three hours before New Years, and they had to speak over the noise. They all had cups of some sort of punch- thankfully Mako-free- and were sipping from them. Refreshments littered the coffee table. "So," Riku continued, "all the political mumbo-jumbo was left to Ms. Crescent? You guys just followed orders?"

Kairi had just taken a sip from her drink, but swallowed it quickly with a noise to respond. She hadn't gotten much of a chance to speak, seeing as she had been on delivery duty like Zexion and didn't have as direct a hand as Demyx. "Pretty much. Most of the time things are set up for us beforehand, like when Demyx had to take those pictures for proof before that one Exceptions guy- Xehanort- could mess with the evidence."

Grimacing, Demyx wondered aloud, "Oh- right. _H__im. _What happened to that guy anyway?" They were all quiet for a bit, the party moving around them. It was almost as if they were a random boulder in the middle of a river.

"Pretty sure Ms. Crescent fired him," Naminé mumbled.

Demyx _humm_ed. "Makes sense."

**…**

With midnight fast approaching, and the New Year with it, Zexion and Demyx lay curled up on the blonde's bed, already having sneaked away from celebratory party and come home. They occasionally glanced over to the clock, but mostly stared at the ceiling.

"It's gonna be a new year," Zexion noted, breathe coming in puffs. They had left the window open, and the room was a frigid twenty degrees. "Wonder what's gonna happen."

"Dunno," the older boy mused. "Maybe we'll make history, maybe not. Probably look into some colleges, take a few pictures..." Cracking his knuckles, he pulled the blanket tighter around him. "Guess we'll just have to find out." A small chuckle and a period of comfortable silence followed. They lay together for what seemed like forever, not minding a bit. Finally, after a while of nothing, Demyx mused, "It's almost midnight."

Grinning, Zexion made a noise of acknowledgment before going to stretch. His boyfriend watched on in amusement as the Hybrid's arm collided with the clock. It fell to the ground with a clatter, startling the smaller boy. The movement amused Demyx, but when the Nekojin went to grab the device he stopped him.

"Leave it," he advised. The younger boy stared for a second, already having freed himself from his blanket. He was standing, and half-bent to grab the clock. "C'mon- get back here."

Confused by curious, Zexion consented, leaving the clock on the floor and climbing back into bed with the blond. "What's up?"

Demyx grinned. "No clocks tonight," he informed the boy. "Let's just make sure we hit midnight." Then he bent forward to engage the Hybrid in a gentle kiss, taking him into his hold and burying his hands in the boy's hair. After his surprise abated, Zexion wound his arms around Demyx's waist and resolved to never let go.

They fell asleep like that, tangled in each others' arms. The bond burned through their veins, still new and keeping things far from dull. Whether they made it to midnight or not is anyone's guess, but the next year at that same time they made sure to kiss at the end of the countdown. Their relationship up until then had been unusually mature, and they resented missing out on the famous mistakes of a High School relationship. So they decided to make up for it in the coming years by whining, arguing, and rolling their eyes at the stupidest, most inconsequential things, and blowing up at each other just because they could. These were all shortly followed by laughter.

The two men eventually moved away. But they came home every year to spend time with everyone who had helped them come together. Celebrations were had whenever possible, and for the silliest reasons, to get them into town. Demyx and Zexion were there for everyone. Not because they couldn't stand to go a month without their childhood friends, or that they were especially attached to their parents. It's because there was a point to be made.

They returned because they could.

And that was all there was to it.

_The End_

**End Notes: The fun bits have been removed from this chapter, obviously. The full version can be found on my writing LJ at besinfection. livejournal. com (forward slash) 7883. html and such. You know the drill. Remove the spaces. Posted this a bit early on FF because I love you all.**

**So, it's been more than two years since I first began posting this. I've gone through three betas, and forced out many a chapter. Thanks everyone who stuck with me through it all, and those who joined along the way. (Also, check out the piece of fanart done by my current Beta, Roanam. There's a link on my profile.) And please keep in mind that I'll be cleaning up the earlier chapters- the grammar, spelling, word usage, etc.- and all the sexy scenes will be removed. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel! They will be available at my writing LJ, which I just linked you to. (Shameless plug warning.) Check out my Queens-Verse while you're there, okay?**

**Love you all!**

**Besieged Infection**


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